Don Rumsfeld, Radical For Our Time

National Review | May 5, 2003 | Victor Davis Hanson

[LibWhacker]

. . . he will probably retire at the conclusion of President Bush's first administration . . .

I hope not! We could sure use him during the second.

[adam_az]

Brother, please. Don't your recall Rumsefeld's early battles to reform the DoD? Skills, perhaps. Capabilities? No way, the miltary was hamstrung by the Clintons. Pre-Rumsfeld, the military had the POTENTIAL. Rumsfeld's policies and political battles unleashed it's capabilities.


The millions of military men follow orders. Like any organization, direction comes from above. You hit the nail on the head - Clinton and his cronies policies did have a kryptonite aura that prevented them from acting effectively. That's not an insult on our soldiers who served under the Commander in Monica, it's an indictment of Clinton's failure.

What are you, the fry guy at McDonalds, or something? You apparently don't have any understanding of the value that good leadership brings to an organization.

[RummyChick]

I hope he doesn't retire...but at 70 he deserves to retire and relax at the end of the first term. He has served his country and done them a service for years and years to come. Unfortunately, someone could come in and really screw the whole thing up...Bush has to chose wisely if Rummy retires.

[visitor]

Aviator bump ...rto

[stripes1776]

Another great article from Hanson.

I hope Rumsfeld writes a book after he retires. That would be an interesting read.

[Rummyfan]

Thanks!

[warchild9]

I'll avoid any comments on Rumsfeld. Things like "Big Oil", Bechtel, Brown and Root, etc., will come up, and the bot flame wars will be rekindled. Let's just say he used the military to disrupt the Afghan terrorist network, and that was a good thing. Anything else is a matter of perception.

[gcruse]

I was Navy, so I don't know how common this is, but I was at a job fair the other day where the military branches all had booths set up. The army recruiter (?) was enlisted with lots of stripes. His dress uniform included a black (Stetson?) cowboy hat with gold trim, and, I am not making this up, boots with gold plated spurs. I assume it is all official Army garb. Pretty stunning.

[Travis McGee]

Ping.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Spurs...
Wow !

[BOBTHENAILER]

The stories and pictures of soldiers running into burning trucks to save valuable equipment, wounded shooting from stretchers, and women of supply units emptying their magazines before capture suggest that the present generation of professional troops is lethal in ways we can only begin to appreciate.

Europe, where military service is looked upon with distrust and rarely seen as either consistent with national values or a means of personal advancement, is shocked to see young kids with Ray-Ban sunglasses driving multimillion-dollar tanks, and artillery emblazoned with slogans like "Bad Moon Rising" and "Anger Management." It is this weird alignment of rap music, counterculture adolescent fashion and diction, and popular movies and videos with selfless and heroic action that so astounds the world. Generals of all races give crisp briefings; Arab-American Marines boast of liberating a Muslim city; women brag of flying three combat missions per day; and bearded, hippie-looking Green Berets on horses prefer the company of medieval tribesmen as they radio in bombs from billion-dollar Stealth bombers. This all suggests that the U.S. military is not so much insidious as postmodern. For someone who dresses so formally and insists on protocol, Donald Rumsfeld, it turns out, is actually quite a radical and has helped to turn our military into something that values efficacy and performance far more than habit, tradition, and procedure.

Wow. What an article. It articulates so many things I've been thinking. Thanks a million for the ping to this. Definitely bookmarked and emailed all over the USA.

[Cuttnhorse]

The author, Victor Davis Hanson is a treasure. I just finished his tremendous book, Carnage and Culture, Key Battles that Defined Western Power, and I highly recommend it.

A great book that explains why the west, from the Greeks in 460 BC at Salamis, through today, continually and always will beat the stuffin's out of the Middle East types.

[Cuttnhorse]

I like the line:
"...allows Powell to triangulate: He can press straddling states to deal with him now -- or Rumsfeld later."

I'm a big fan of Victor Davis Hanson.

[Cuttnhorse]

See my post #52.

[Movemout]

This author has it right. Agents of change are seldom popular with the object of their affection. The results are proving Rummy correct. I had an instructor in the Armor Scool at Ft Knox who used to say, "You can't argue with trappers what have skins on their walls." He was referring to the Israeli use of armor in the Yom Kippur War.

[BOBTHENAILER]

Thanks a million, I'll get it for sure.

[dark_lord]

You apparently don't have any understanding of the value that good leadership brings to an organization.

On the contrary, I recognize good leadership -- and Rumsfeld provides it. But I also recognize the limitations of leadership as well. I see Rumsfeld like a good orchestra conductor. With a good orchestra, a good conductor can do much. But you have to have the good orchestra. My comment was merely pointing out that in 24 months Rumsfeld's impact is limited.

The reality is that the performance in Iraq by our military would have been excellent even without him. The performance went right down to the squad and individual trooper level -- and that is the part that you appear to overlook. AND oh by the way -- your "fry guy" crack shows your elitist tendencies.

[nickcarraway]

ping

[kylaka]

It seems many of The Apache drivers have adopted the dress code of the 19th century calvary officers, complete with saber.

[gcruse]

He may have had a sabre, I'm not sure. I was blown away by the hat and spurs.