25 thoughts on “Read This”

  4. He was a patriot and I appreciated that. The fact that he was forced to resign because some private in a distant land did something stupid doesn’t sit well with me.

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      4. It was just me trying t0 get s0mebdy t0 ask anything ab0ut the how and why of me getting fired. In hindsite, I am glad because I dated a lot of cheerleaders that semester.

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  5. R> was fun back in the day but Lilek’s seems to finally be engaging with the little member peeps. I remember when he dr0pped in 0nt0 one of our kafeeklatches like a Greek g0d c0ming d0wn fr0m Mt. 0lympus t0 bless us with his presence. L0L

    I was banned f0r life f0r the 2d time sh0rtly after that exchange. Their l0ss and y0u, the gentle reader’s gain. The site is as b0ring as f0xtr0tt c0mpared t0 the early days.

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  6. If the s0-called war 0n drugs was a war, then I was quite literally neck-deep in at least three wars Rummy did n0t win f0r the Gipper. That is n0t a g00d on base percentage in my b00k.

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  7. I certainly can’t argue with an expert but I think what garnered my respect was the infamous comment “We don’t know what we don’t know.”

    At least he was honest.

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  8. Boy, Mac and his comrades feel similarly to you, ST. They’ll acknowledge his life of service, but mentioned him in the same breath as Robert McNamara in the Vietnam era. Total contempt in their comments.

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      1. They sure did – and do – quite persuasively; as do you, ST…to those who may, or may not, have ears to hear.

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      1. They point to arrogance, a tendency to get tangled in micromanaging, an unwillingness to brook disagreement/dissenting opinion from general officers on the ground, as well as a sense of being ‘the smartest person in the room, as points of compassion, Liz. (Particularly with respect to what they view as the “unwarranted incursion into Iraq”. Strong views, grant you, but shedding blood, sweat, and tears gives them the right to expression – and authority that few of us can match….

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      2. All of the above is true but I wouldn’t call Rumsfeld a liar.

        Personally, I think the job of Def Sec is unnecessary anyway. Leave it to the Joint Chiefs; at least most of them have been there. The Pentagon non-coms define my worst nightmare of bureaucracy.

        I like the idea of separating civilians from the military anyway. It’s no accident that the only govt program that works has the least contact with politicians. There must be some oversight however and I would leave that to whomever occupies the White House.

        I would love to hear President Trump address all generals. 🙂

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  10. Mac and the boys are chapped that “Rummy” tore up the jointly-designed plan, forced resignations by folks on the ground who dissented, brought in disasters like Bremer and Wolfowitz, and “pulled his own plan out of his a$$”. Truthful in his own way, or not, he, like McNamara, has blood on his hands in the hearts and minds of three who fought those battles – and bear wounds, both visible and invisible because of then-SecDef’s flawed but unalterable calculus.

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  11. One final comment about Def Secs: Anyone remember who held that position during WWII? I admittedly do not but I do remember the people who made all the difference:

    1. Dwight D. Eisenhower
    2. Douglas MacArthur
    3. George Patton
    4. Matthew Ridgeway

    Just sayin…

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