Rumsfeld Missing Gray Matter Between the Ears

For almost six months until after the election, Donald Rumsfeld laid low publicly, after Abu Graib. Then after W hoo-hah'd at Camp Pendleton, Rummy must of thought he could do the same with the troops fighting in Iraq.

Yesterday when I blogged, I hadn't heard the whole text of Rummy's responses to the troops. Now I have. Funny, that any time W or Rummy screws up, their minions have to find ways to defend their lack of leadership and judgment.

Sure there have been shortages in every war, and GIs love to complain. But those who blow off what happened in Kuwait yesterday as normal grousing miss the point totally. Mr. Rumsfeld may be a good bureaucrat, but he is an incompetent leader just like his boss, who asked him to stay on.

No amount of excuses can explain away how Mr. Rumsfeld answered questions yesterday and now the fighting GIs have confirmed for themselves that Rumsfeld doesn't really get it, and doesn't care about them:

Rummy: "You go to war with what you have."
What the troops heard: "Suck it up - too bad, that's all we are gonna give you."
Rummy: "It's all a matter of physics."
What the troops heard: "Your gonna get your ass blown up anyway. Doesn't matter whether we give you more armor or not."

And then today, in an attempt at damage control, Rummy said that "he expects the Army to do its best to resolve the problem." And W followed by saying, "The concerns expressed are being addressed and that is -- we expect our troops to have the best possible equipment."

Expects? Expect?

NO, NO, NO! That's what the defenders of this incompetent leadership at the top don't understand.

Real leaders would be saying, "We understand that there are shortages in important equipment and personnel. The safety, and effectiveness, of our troops is priority #1. Today we have ordered the Department of Defense to leave no stone unturned to make sure you have what you need, without delay. We will correct what needs to be corrected. That's our pledge to you."

That's what real leaders would be saying now. Any other excuses by W, Rummy, or their fawning supporters don't cut it with veterans that have any brains.