Yep, it didn't take much apparently. He has stepped down. Now maybe the Generals can run the war from the theater.
Listening to Bush speak as he announces Rumsfeld's resignation and the appointment of Bob Gates to replace him as Secretary of Defense brings us hope that we can achive our objective in Iraq, a win, in a more organized, focused and timely manner. Change is good. Hopefully Gates will be more likely to listen to Generals on the ground and get our Service Men and Women in a better position to achive all their objectives to crush terrorism and bring democracy to Iraq.
There is only one problem, nobody can win this war. The only difference these different people make is the time that it takes before the war is lost and the amount of casualty. The time to win this war was in the first 6 month of the war but that possibility was lost because of the incompetence of the administration.
I hope things improve too, hopefully he won't listen to the media and just do the job the best possible way and bring home our guys (and gals) alive. Funny thing is, the military isn't doing many offensive moves, so basically if they just stop shooting our guys we could bring them home and then they can go back to killing each other in peace.
I always said that Rumsfeld is one of the crazyest and most dangerous men in the entire world, which he is. Great to see him stand down, it will not make a scrap of difference to the absolute disaster that he helped cause out in the middle east but at least Rumsfeld has less power now, which can only be a good thing. Anyone with half a brain knows that Cheney is the main man and is even more dangerous than Rumsfeld, he's the one we really need to get rid of. Bush is also dangerous, but that is mainly down to the fact that he don't got no brain.
Ol' George W. is not gonna get a break around here it appears. But right now on TV in the press conference, he actually sounds in touch. If this is a preview of him and how he will act when embracing change and working with the new House, there is hope.
Huh? We won the war in Iraq 3 1/2 years ago... From May 1, 2003: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/05/20030501-15.html You would think the White House would maybe take down that "press release".
I thought I was being too critical when I looked at the photo and thought WTF, is this a Top Gun promo pose? Funny thing though, no one looks to be returning the high five.
I completely agree with you. Bush has signaled a serious shift in direction today. The analysts are saying that his move today shows that he has basically cut himself off from the neocon ideologues and has aligned himself with the foreign policy pragmatists(that's what Tim Russert described Gates as -- a pragmatist) of his father's administration. This move is hugely positive. I'm actually looking forward to supporting my president again.
I'd be all for pulling the troops out now, I fail to see that keeping them there would make a bad situation any better in terms of the quality of life for the people in Iraq. The danger is that Iraq is now so unstable and could turn to a radical Muslim leader and be a real haven for terrorists, not like it was 3 years ago. The influence of Iran so close by is worrying also. Basically we're dammed if we do and we're damned if we dont. The whole situation is a mess.
you guys crack me up. Some of you sound like Bush just changed because of the change in the House and Senate. I highly doubt that. In fact, I bet some of the votes will continue to go the same way for Iraq, funding, etc.. A few months from now we will here the crying about how the neocons have brainwashed the newbies. The sad thing is, judges will only be picked if they are extremely liberal and like to write law instead of enforce it.
I was astonished to see this news. We don't know what is going on behind the scenes. I had read about when Colin Powell resigned. Though the official letter said something about him considering this for months...per his book it didn't happen that way. After Bush was reelected he was contacted and was told they wanted him to resign. right away. As soon as his resignation was final Bush announced that condi rice was taking the spot. Bush was obviously planning this. I'd bet it was a contingency in the event the Dems took control of the House after the election.
yeah the thought of putting rummy in front of mic and making him answer questions got everyone shook , who knows what he might say