Posted on 11/28/2004 7:23:46 PM PST by nj26
THE American defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, should be sacked, according to a growing chorus of conservative commentators who want him replaced by a figure with wider appeal. In a seemingly innocuous Thanksgiving message to readers last week, William Kristol, the neoconservative editor of The Weekly Standard magazine, slipped in a surprise demand for Rumsfeld’s dismissal.
“What remains to be done is to announce new leadership for the department of defence,” wrote Kristol. “This, surely, would be an important opportunity for a strong, Bush-doctrine-supporting outsider, someone who of course would be a team player, but someone who could also work with the military and broaden support for the president’s policy.”
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
I think Rummy is gonna kick that girly man Kristol's ass.
uhhh... Leave Rummy where he is.
Thanks... amazing find.
To Kristol: bite the big one!
Kristol tried to slip one to Cheney before the election, that did not work. Kristols parents were rabid communists, he has an agenda and it is not American or conservative.
Big bump! Run, run Donald!
I will say that I am getting tired of hearing from certain neoconservative "commentators" in bow ties, who act like "experts" in military affairs when they have never set foot inside the Pentagon or worn a military uniform. And Kristol (along with Tom Friedman of the NY Times) are right at the top of that list.
Perfect Strussian move on the part of Krystol! Come out against the Sec of Def in order to weed out those against him.
Brilliant!
And BillKristol is what? A yacketty-yacking wuss whose idea of a battle is answering a cross word from Mara Laison?
Give me a break!
Removing Rumsfeld would be the stupidest thing anyone could do. Who wrote this Kerry , Edwards, Hillary, Kennedy or McAwful??
Regarding #4, the Washington Post must be excerpted, whether in article posts or replies.
Kristol is a wanker, he blows both ways!
He'll only support a Conservative if he thinks it will get him somewhere! Interesting article afterall.... I ADORE The DONALD!! I followed all of this stuff in college and beyond.. Ronnie chose Bush SR for a reason..it had nothing to do with the primaries.. we are NOT talkin' stoopid people here!
Kristol on the other hand has his own agenda, unlike these smarter and elder dudes who were simply just "American's"
Is this the same Ralph Peterson?
“....His arrogance is unbearable. My friends in uniform just hate him.”
Well then your "friends in uniform" are either (1) the enemy, (2) the UN, or (3)idiots.
"..his cabinet rival, Colin Powell, the secretary of state. " LOL
I have heard on Fox News that Kristol would like to see McCain as Defense secretary. I agree, I like Rumsfeld. But I also like Kristol. And, I really like Paul Wolfowitz.
Bill Kristol is jealous that Bush keeps consulting other advisers and ignoring him. It's petty and foolish. He has done a lot of good things over the years. Why get in a snit now, when he might actually be of use if he would just calm down and get the chip off his shoulder?
A lot of generals hate Rummy, and they may be Peters' friends. But the ones that hate Rummy are the clintonoids and deadheads who were taken out of the chain of command when Rumsfeld tapped Tommy Franks to do the job. And a brilliant job he did.
There's plenty of deadwood in the Pentagon. I'm sorry that Peters considers them to be his friends.
Kristol can go to hell. He is a RINO McCainiac who should be never be trusted again.
I like Kristol when he smiles, but when he smiles and talks at the same time... he runs into mind-body coordination problems.
Replacing Rumsfeld would be exactly what our enemies and the Democrats want. Why do we worry about what the critics say about protecting our lives and Western Civilization?
Replacing Rumsfeld or losing Cheney would crumble the core support for Bush during his presidency.
Vote for Kristol as "Girly Man Of The Year!"
Bow-tie, Monday-Morning-Quarterbacking bump for Kristol.
No-nonsense, get-it-done bump for Rumsfeld.
Hoppy
Rumsfeld has been around before "Nixinger". LOL
Kristols parents were rabid communists
That would be Irving Kristol, a founder of the neo-cons, True in his youth he was a communist, as many were but he grew up, again like many.
I'm assuming you have a point.
I like Rumsfeld. But I also like Kristol. And, I really like Paul Wolfowitz.
No I'm sorry you are only allowed to like one. You must hate and never speak kindly of the other two.
I'm sorry but those are the rules.
And his mother was Gertrude Himmelfarb, highly regarded conservative writer and thinker, who I believe passed away last year. But yes, Bill Kristol is a putz.
can anyone name three countries (besides the US) that kristol does NOT think we should invade and take over?
I will not deny Rumsfield was excellent at executing this war but thats where it stops. He continually says no need for more troops and that is just plain wrong. I realise that was probably just something he was saying so Bush wouldnt have to draft before the election. But that doesnt change the fact we are short handed in Iraq and I have heard several military officers say Rumsfield needs to go and they are big Bush supporters
"can anyone name three countries (besides the US) that kristol does NOT think we should invade and take over?"
That's exactly the point. Kristol is picking targets, and then sitting back, letting others do the hard work, and then criticizing their execution of it.
Why would we need a draft? Did Reagan need a draft to win the Cold War? Why not cut out all of these ridiculous new government programs and start rebuilding our all volunteer military? Even if we had a draft, we'd still have to pay them.
Here's some cogent thoughts about the draft:
Former President Ronald Reagan eloquently expressed the moral case against the draft in the publication Human Events in 1979: "[Conscription] rests on the assumption that your kids belong to the state. If we buy that assumption then it is for the state – not for parents, the community, the religious institutions or teachers – to decide who shall have what values and who shall do what work, when, where and how in our society. That assumption isn't a new one. The Nazis thought it was a great idea."
"The most fundamental objection to draft registration is moral," President Reagan once said. "A draft or draft registration destroys the very values that our society is committed to defending."
"He [the King] has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures." - The Declaration of Independence
During the War of 1812, Daniel Webster fervently condemned the draft on constitutional grounds:
"Where is it written in the Constitution, in what article or section is it contained, that you may take children from their parents, and parents from their children, and compel them to fight the battles of any war, in which the folly or the wickedness of Government may engage it?"
The United States went on to win that war without a single conscript. Proof that when liberty is truly threatened, there is no shortage of Americans willing to take up arms in its defense.
Ayn Rand in her Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal,
"Of all the statist violations of individual rights in a mixed economy, the military draft is the worst. It is an abrogation of rights. It negates man's fundamental right--the right to life--and establishes the fundamental principle of statism: that a man's life belongs to the state, and the state may claim it by compelling him to sacrifice it in battle. If the state may force a man to risk death or hideous maiming and crippling, in a war declared at the state's discretion, for a cause he may neither approve of nor even understand, if his consent is not required to send him into unspeakable martyrdom--then, in principle, all rights are negated in that state, and its government is not man's protector any longer. What is there left to protect?"
Didn't the Clinton Misadministration reduce the U.S. military by half? If so, then we had a miltary twice the size that it is now 12 years ago without a draft.
Surely anybody who has listened to one of his cynical comments during a press conference must instantly love the Secretary of Defense. Keep him there, better yet form a Rummy Fan Club - I'd join and found a U.K. branch.
Oh Fiddle-dee-dee. Kristol is just doing PR for Rumsfeld. :) I like Rummy, and I think he should stay in position. He's done a superb job and will continue to do so.
A point??? Yes indeed, it was contained in my first post re Kristol. It said he and others have an agenda, neither American or conservative. Recall that?
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