From: The Washington Post, December 23, 2004, Pg. 23
"Dodging Blame," Why Are These Neocons Attacking Rumsfeld? By Robert D. Novak
From The Chicago Tribune December 22, 2004
"Why Rumsfeld Must Stay," President Bush made the right call earlier this week in expressing his confidence in Donald Rumsfeld, his embattled secretary of defense. By Ed Feulner, president of The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Washington.
Sample Quote:
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And there's the rub: Senators of his own party--John McCain, Chuck Hagel, Susan Collins, even Trent Lott--who should be applauding such a straight-talking, decisive leader--are taking shots at him because he doesn't play the Washington game of appeasing the powers on Capitol Hill and in the national news media.
So when, at a meeting with troops in Kuwait, an embedded reporter from the Chattanooga Times-Free Press stages a question to Rumsfeld through the mouth of Spec. Thomas Wilson about the shortage of armor on Humvees in Iraq, the sergeant gets a straight and truthful answer from Rumfeld: "As you know, you go to war with the Army you have. They're not the Army you might want or wish to have at a later time." And, for the umpteenth time since the Iraq war began, Rumsfeld is pilloried. For what? For refusing to double-talk.
So when, at a meeting with troops in Kuwait, an embedded reporter from the Chattanooga Times-Free Press stages a question to Rumsfeld through the mouth of Spec. Thomas Wilson about the shortage of armor on Humvees in Iraq, the sergeant gets a straight and truthful answer from Rumfeld: "As you know, you go to war with the Army you have. They're not the Army you might want or wish to have at a later time." And, for the umpteenth time since the Iraq war began, Rumsfeld is pilloried. For what? For refusing to double-talk.
From: The Washington Times, December 23, 2004, Pg. 19
Unfriendly Fusillade, By Robert Andrews
Sample Quote:
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Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is taking heavy fire. Critics to the right of him, critics to the left of him, volley and thunder. Furiously pumping up a flap about armored military vehicles in Iraq, the pundits, pols and press are trying to convince us that the secretary endangers Americans because of his arrogance.
From The National Review Online, December 22, 2004
"Dump Don," The media coverage of the Defense secretary suggests more than reporting at work. By Eric Pfeiffer
Sample Quote:
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This is all not to say that complaints against Rumsfeld lack validity. As Rumsfeld himself responded in USA Today to the National Guard soldier's question, "His question was a fair one, and I share his impatience." But taken in full context, Rumsfeld's critics lack the armor afforded to honest brokers not operating in a two-front political theater.
From The New York Times, December 23, 2004
"Worth A Thousand Words" By Thomas L. Friedman
Sample Quotes:
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We may lose because most Europeans, having been made stupid by their own weakness, would rather see America fail in Iraq than lift a finger for free and fair elections there.
...
However this war started, however badly it has been managed, however much you wish we were not there, do not kid yourself that this is not what it is about: people who want to hold a free and fair election to determine their own future, opposed by a virulent nihilistic minority that wants to prevent that. That is all that the insurgents stand for.
...
However this war started, however badly it has been managed, however much you wish we were not there, do not kid yourself that this is not what it is about: people who want to hold a free and fair election to determine their own future, opposed by a virulent nihilistic minority that wants to prevent that. That is all that the insurgents stand for.
While this is all interesting news, I wonder if were being fed one side of the story... (or is it just me?)
