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Rumsfeld Admires War Criminal
Lewis Regenstein

Posted on 05/27/2004 12:27:27 PM PDT by philosofy123

To the Editor/ The New York Times:

Your "Political Points" article in the 23 May Sunday New York Times, reports that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is reading Grant, the biography of the Civil War general, Ulysses S. Grant, as a morale booster.

But if Rumsfeld is going to adopt Grant as a role model or source of inspiration, he (and you) should be aware that Grant’s policies and actions included the following: •

Ordering the expulsion on 24 hours notice of all Jews "as a class" from the territory under his control (General Order # 11, 17 December, 1862), and forbidding Jews to travel on trains (November, 1862); •

Ordering the destruction of an entire agricultural area to deny the enemy support (the Shenandoah Valley, 5 August, 1864). •

Leading the mass murder, a virtual genocide, of Native People, mainly helpless old men, women, and children in their villages, to make land available for the western railroads (the eradication of the Plains Indians, 1865–66).

Overseeing the complete destruction of defenseless Southern cities, and conducting such warfare against unarmed women and children (e.g., the razing of Meridien, and other cities in Mississippi, spring, 1863).

Contrast these well documented atrocities (and many others too numerous to list) with the gentlemanly policies and behavior of the Confederate forces. My ancestor Major Raphael Moses, General James Longstreet’s chief commissary officer, was forbidden by General Robert E. Lee from even entering private homes in their raids into the North, such as the famous incursion into Pennsylvania. Moses was forced to obtain his supplies from businesses and farms, and he always paid for what he requisitioned, albeit in Confederate tender.

Moses always endured in good humor the harsh verbal abuse he received from the local women, who, he noted, always insisted on receiving in the end the exact amount owed.

Moses and his Confederate colleagues never engaged in the type of warfare waged by the Union forces, who routinely burned, looted, and destroyed libraries, courthouses, churches, homes, and cities full of defenseless civilians, including my hometown of Atlanta. My ancestors may have lost the war, but they never lost their honor.

Perhaps Rumsfeld should be reading the memoirs of General Lee or Major Moses, instead of the bio of a war criminal like General Grant.

Sincerely yours,

Lewis Regenstein

Atlanta, Georgia


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; US: Georgia; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: dixielist; rumsfeld; tinfoil
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1 posted on 05/27/2004 12:27:28 PM PDT by philosofy123
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To: philosofy123

LOL!


2 posted on 05/27/2004 12:29:40 PM PDT by RolandBurnam
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To: philosofy123

So, the NYTimes finally found a Suthren White Male thy like?


3 posted on 05/27/2004 12:30:00 PM PDT by hobbes1 (Hobbes1TheOmniscient® "I know everything so you don't have to" ;)
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To: philosofy123

I have heard it all now.


4 posted on 05/27/2004 12:30:20 PM PDT by bmwcyle (<a href="http://www.johnkerry.com/" target="_blank">miserable failure)
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To: philosofy123

.


5 posted on 05/27/2004 12:30:46 PM PDT by verity (The Liberal Media is America's Enemy)
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To: philosofy123

All of this about Grant is true. Having him on the $50 is a notable irony.

It would be nice if the media would trot this out when discussing, say, confederate battle flags or their other bash-the-south articles rather than to attack one of their highest-target priority republicans.


6 posted on 05/27/2004 12:31:12 PM PDT by WoofDog123
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To: philosofy123
Dear Mr. Regenstein,

Up your dosage. Stat!

7 posted on 05/27/2004 12:31:38 PM PDT by theDentist (John Kerry never saw a TAX he wouldn't HIKE !!!)
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To: philosofy123

Yeah, forget Grant. He should be reading the biography of Sherman instead.


8 posted on 05/27/2004 12:32:29 PM PDT by My2Cents ("Well....there you go again.")
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To: philosofy123
>>>>Ordering the expulsion on 24 hours notice of all Jews "as a class" from the territory under his control


If Rumsfeld offered that up as a policy plank to Fritz Hollings, he'd have bipartisan support.
9 posted on 05/27/2004 12:32:46 PM PDT by .cnI redruM (There can be no détente with the theocracy.)
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To: theDentist

Yes, Mr. Regenstein, stick it! US Grant was indispensable in winning the Civil War and keeping this one nation.


10 posted on 05/27/2004 12:32:51 PM PDT by laconic
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To: philosofy123

Who the hell said Rumsfeld was going to use Grant as a role model?
Is every Leftist really this delusional?


11 posted on 05/27/2004 12:34:31 PM PDT by dyed_in_the_wool (Why do Al Qaeda and DNC press releases always sound the same?)
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To: RolandBurnam

Everybody's a war criminal to the NYT's and its readers except:

Stalin
Mao
Pol Pot
Castro
Saddam

and every other bruttish thug communism past, present and future.


12 posted on 05/27/2004 12:34:46 PM PDT by jamfull
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To: WoofDog123

The victor writes the history. The South has nothing good.


13 posted on 05/27/2004 12:35:33 PM PDT by philosofy123
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To: philosofy123
Personally, I've always thought highly of General Grant's military expertise. But Generals Sherman and Sheridan were even better at understanding mass modern warfare.

Besides which, most of the Indian policies were set and executed by Sherman and Sheridan, not Grant.

14 posted on 05/27/2004 12:36:18 PM PDT by BlueLancer (Der Elite Møøsënspåånkængrüppen ØberKømmändø (EMØØK))
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To: *dixie_list; sionnsar; Free Trapper; dcwusmc; Wampus SC; Fiddlstix; Southron Patriot; ...

NYT editorial


15 posted on 05/27/2004 12:36:18 PM PDT by stainlessbanner
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To: philosofy123

Reparations NOW!


16 posted on 05/27/2004 12:36:30 PM PDT by Old Sarge (It's not Bush's fault - It's THE MEDIA'S fault!)
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To: My2Cents

Exactly


17 posted on 05/27/2004 12:36:52 PM PDT by Constitution Day
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To: philosofy123

This guy's racist track record is a lot more recent than U.S. Grant's.

18 posted on 05/27/2004 12:36:52 PM PDT by martin_fierro (</pith>)
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To: philosofy123

I took it as Mr. Regenstein being somewhat tongue-in-cheek and putting Abu Ghraib in perspective, for the know-it-all Times.


19 posted on 05/27/2004 12:37:06 PM PDT by rabidralph (EPIC=Extra Pretty in Color)
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To: My2Cents

Or Robert E Lee?


20 posted on 05/27/2004 12:37:26 PM PDT by philosofy123
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