Military papers demand Rumsfeld, Myers' resignation

[ianbergman]

Today, the Army, Marine, Air Force and Navy Times, civilian-owned papers which are effectively the trade papers of the military, ran editorials calling for the ouster of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Myers.

"General Myers, Rumsfeld and their staffs failed to recognize the impact the scandal would not only have in the United States but around the world," the editorial reads. "On the battlefield, Myers and Rumsfeld's errors would be called a lack of situational awareness ? a failure that amounts to professional negligence."

Link to Full Story

From one of The Raw Story's editors

 

[Rogue]

Well, I just got my Army Times for this week so we'll see what it has to say.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Wow. Just wow.

The transcript from Face the Nation offers a really fascinating bipartisan discussion involving Joe Biden and Chuck Hegel, and both are frankly pretty scathing toward Scty Rumsfeld and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Although the military Times newspapers are privately run, they really are read by most military members, and I find it just amazing they are recommending the removal of the SecDef and CJCS.

I think it is critical that President Bush acts with a sense of urgency to DO SOMETHING about this, other than publicly praising Scty Rumsfeld. This scandal can undo bonds of international trust and friendship that have taken decades to build. This is not the time to patiently wait for things to work out on their own.

 

[Rogue]

There were actually two editorial articles in the issue of this week's Army times and both I feel hit the nail on the head. The one cited in the OP was far less direct in recommending the removal of Rumsfeld and other leadership. The other article said it outright. I'll try to locate both on ArmyTime.com and post them here shortly.

Edit: it looks like they don't have this week's text uploaded quite yet.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Originally posted by: Rogue
Edit: it looks like they don't have this week's text uploaded quite yet.

Tues afternoon to subscribers only

 

[Tripleshot]

Originally posted by: Don_Vito
Wow. Just wow.

The transcript from Face the Nation offers a really fascinating bipartisan discussion involving Joe Biden and Chuck Hegel, and both are frankly pretty scathing toward Scty Rumsfeld and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Although the military Times newspapers are privately run, they really are read by most military members, and I find it just amazing they are recommending the removal of the SecDef and CJCS.

I think it is critical that President Bush acts with a sense of urgency to DO SOMETHING about this, other than publicly praising Scty Rumsfeld. This scandal can undo bonds of international trust and friendship that have taken decades to build. This is not the time to patiently wait for things to work out on their own.

BUSH DID DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS.

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: Tripleshot

Originally posted by: Don_Vito
Wow. Just wow.

The transcript from Face the Nation offers a really fascinating bipartisan discussion involving Joe Biden and Chuck Hegel, and both are frankly pretty scathing toward Scty Rumsfeld and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Although the military Times newspapers are privately run, they really are read by most military members, and I find it just amazing they are recommending the removal of the SecDef and CJCS.

I think it is critical that President Bush acts with a sense of urgency to DO SOMETHING about this, other than publicly praising Scty Rumsfeld. This scandal can undo bonds of international trust and friendship that have taken decades to build. This is not the time to patiently wait for things to work out on their own.

BUSH DID DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS.

What did Bush do?

There are already investigations under way.

Bush saying Rumsfeld is doing a superb job is like saying Ken Lay was a superb CEO.

 

[ianbergman]

I admit I was stunned by how strongly Bush is backing Rumsfeld in this... with even the military papers calling to one degree or another for his resig, i'm betting we see his resignation. But not quite yet. Instead it will be in a week or more, when he can say it's not for domestic (read: giving dems a victory) reasons, but rather for international political reasons.

 

[Perknose]

LOL, I first learned that we'd had troops (50.000 of them) in Russia fighting against the Reds during the communist revolution in the good old Stars and Stripes when they had a blurb alerting the last veterans of that campaign about an upcoming reunion!

 

[IndieSnob]

That damn liberal armed services media!

 

[RustedOut]

Bush firing Rumsfeld and Myers ?
Oh well, what's another 2 more books on the best selling lists.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Here are some snippets from the editorial (I don't want to cut and paste the whole thing, which is copyrighted):

________________________________

Around the halls of the Pentagon, a term of caustic derision has emerged for the enlisted soldiers at the heart of the furor over the Abu Ghraib prison scandal: the six morons who lost the war.
Indeed, the damage done to the U.S. military and the nation as a whole by the horrifying photographs of U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqi detainees at the notorious prison is incalculable.

But the folks in the Pentagon are talking about the wrong morons.

. . .

But while responsibility begins with the six soldiers facing criminal charges, it extends all the way up the chain of command to the highest reaches of the military hierarchy and its civilian leadership.

. . .

Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, also shares in the shame. Myers asked ?60 Minutes II? to hold off reporting news of the scandal because it could put U.S. troops at risk. But when the report was aired, a week later, Myers still hadn?t read Taguba?s report, which had been completed in March. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld also failed to read the report until after the scandal broke in the media.

By then, of course, it was too late.

Myers, Rumsfeld and their staffs failed to recognize the impact the scandal would have not only in the United States, but around the world.

If their staffs failed to alert Myers and Rumsfeld, shame on them. But shame, too, on the chairman and secretary, who failed to inform even President Bush.

. . .

This was not just a failure of leadership at the local command level. This was a failure that ran straight to the top. Accountability here is essential ? even if that means relieving top leaders from duty in a time of war.

 

[Phokus]

Here's the actual article.

http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-2903288.php