Army Times Calls for Rumsfeld’s Resignation Again

As the website says, the Army Times is part of the Military Times Media group, consisting of the Army Times, Navy Times, Air Force Times and Marine Corps Times. Owned by Gannet, they are probably the papers most focused on the needs of the folks in uniform, from R&R in their travel section, to information on living on a new base; the writers’ main purpose is to address the special information needs of Americans in uniform. This morning, all four papers ran an editorial calling for the replacement of Field Marshal Donald von Rumsfeld as US Secretary of Defense.

Editor Robert Hodierne told CNN that the paper had already demanded that Field Marshal von Rumsfeld quit over Abu Ghraib, and it is a matter of public record that the president declined to accept the resignation offer Mr. Rumsfeld made. Taking the blame for the prison-torture scandal was the right thing to do as a matter of ministerial responsibility. At the same time, the same holds true for the war, and Mr. Rumsfeld has failed to take the heat for his failing (or failed) war plan.

The editorial in question reads, in part,

For two years, American sergeants, captains and majors training the Iraqis have told their bosses that Iraqi troops have no sense of national identity, are only in it for the money, don’t show up for duty and cannot sustain themselves. Meanwhile, colonels and generals have asked their bosses for more troops. Service chiefs have asked for more money. And all along, Rumsfeld has assured us that things are well in hand. Now, the president says he’ll stick with Rumsfeld for the balance of his term in the White House. This is a mistake. It is one thing for the majority of Americans to think Rumsfeld has failed. But when the nation’s current military leaders start to break publicly with their defense secretary, then it is clear that he is losing control of the institution he ostensibly leads.