The Don

Donald Rumsfeld has been the most successful member of the Bush Administration so far. Yes, even more than the much loved Colin Powell. Rumsfeld and the military brass planned and executed a speedy victory in Afghanistan in 2001. Then came the Battle of Iraq in 2003. Contrary to the asinine quagmire charges, Iraq was in U.S. hands after three weeks. Still, quite a few people want Rumsfeld to resign. Why? Well, the reasons have built up. Rumsfeld's incompetent handling of Iraq, not enough troops on the ground, and now because the troops don't have adequate protection like armored humvees. Let's tackle these three charges one by one. Incompetence In March 2003, the troops had chemical suits with them, the war was predicted to last three months, hundreds of oil wells were supposed to go up in flames and over 500 combat deaths were expected. Instead, the U.S. army made the fastest heavy armor movement in history and smashed through Baghdad. Only a few oil wells were put on fire and those were quickly put out. The combat deaths were only around a hundred. The most unbelievable charge of incompetence was that the troops didn't stop the unarmed Iraqis from stealing the material in government buildings. How exactly was that supposed to happen? Should the troops have been ordered to shoot at Iraqis? You can imagine the news headlines then. Not enough troops This is, by far, the most common charge against Rumsfeld. So, let's say that instead of 130,000 troops in Iraq, there were 230,000. Now, what would you rotate these troops with? The U.S. must have around 5 extra divisions or 200,000 more troops for this process. Can Rumsfeld have such numbers of troops in the next few days, weeks or months? No, he needs years for that to happen. Rumsfeld is doing the best he can with the numbers he has not the numbers commentators think he should have. More troops also means more financial costs. The U.S. is already spending about $2 billion a week in Iraq. When the $87 billion bill came up, the Democrats were shocked at the huge number. In my opinion, the number was small. I thought that the amount should have been double that. Anyway, John Kerry, who by the way served in Vietnam, infamously voted against the bill. Later, he said that he was going to add 50,000 troops to the U.S. armed forces but these troops were in no way to be used in Iraq. Well, that's helpful. This would be like your friend giving you a Blockbuster gift certificate with one condition; you can't use it at Blockbuster. Armor The humvees have certain restrictions by design and certain restrictions by law. The design problem comes in with the windshield, and if troops try to add armor, then they're violating the law that limits the overall weight of the humvee. Armor is no guarantee of protection. If one were trapped in an armored humvee, then it'd be tough to get out quickly. Abram tanks have been left immobilized by RPGs. Ergo, the tanks don't have enough armor. The Pentagon, however, is putting armor on humvees. We live in a nanosecond world but the production of armor and then the fitting of humvees takes time. After the armor question was reported or rather manufactured, Senator McCain said that he had no confidence in Rumsfeld. The media loves McCain and unfortunately for us that feeling is mutual. If McCain, and other senators, think that troops really don't have enough protection, then they have the power to pass bills which would provide the Pentagon with extra money for exactly such items like armor. Instead, they want Rumsfeld's head. I really don't understand the dislike for Rummy. He is a no-nonsense guy and has been a great Sec. of Defense in the early stages of WW IV. To ask for his resignation for issues that are beyond his control is to demonstrate bad judgement. Most people, myself included, think that the troops should have every protection they need. The reality is that the military has a limited budget and thus limited resources. So, should the military budget be increased? YES. Should Rumsfeld be shown the door? NO. Sources and further reading: A short post by Glenn that turns into a resourceful long one. A post primarily about logistics by Wretchard. The bogus armor crisis by Donald Sensing.