The Unknown Candidate: Rumsfeld Under Fire -- Again

Monday, April 10, 2006

Rumsfeld Under Fire -- Again

Third Retired General Wants Rumsfeld Out
By Thom Shanker
The New York Times

WASHINGTON, April 9 — The three-star Marine Corps general who was the military's top operations officer before the invasion of Iraq expressed regret, in an essay published Sunday, that he did not more energetically question those who had ordered the nation to war. He also urged active-duty officers to speak out now if they had doubts about the war.

Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold, who retired in late 2002, also called for replacing Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and "many others unwilling to fundamentally change their approach." He is the third retired senior officer in recent weeks to demand that Mr. Rumsfeld step down.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
In the essay, in this week's issue of Time magazine, General Newbold wrote ... that the decision to invade Iraq ... "was done with a casualness and swagger that are the special province of those who have never had to execute these missions — or bury the results."