What, exactly, did he do wrong?
I thought Mr. “Stay the course except when we need to change the course” was all about loyalty?
What, exactly, did he do wrong?
good one 
What did he do right?
<------ = stubborn republican
even I was happy to see the idiot go
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**What, exactly, did he do wrong? **
Iraq
What did he do right?
Off the top of my head -
Transformed much of the Army structure especially at Division and below into Brigade Combat Teams that are much more deployable and self-contained.
Everybody complains about “sent guys into harms way without enough armoured vehicles.” Well guess what…an IED made up of a triple stack of Anti-Tank mines, or a couple 105mm Howitzer rounds, or even a two small AT mines is still gonna F^&k up a unarmoured Hummer…
The press zero’d in on his “you go to war with the Army you have not the Army you want” comment but it’s the friggin truth. What you wish you had, and what you have to work with is usually worlds apart, except for our SMUs. That being said we have been fielded more new gear faster than I’ve seen in the past 16yrs.
Is/was he perfect? by no means, but he did alot of things right. Pulling Pete Schoomaker back from retirement to be the Army Chief was a brilliant move and we (us Army-types anyway) have all benfited from it as an organization.
I don’t know why he “quit” now when we’re just about to win the war in Iraq. Another few months, maybe a few weeks since we have “them” on the run, and he could be a hero riding down Baghdad Avenue in a convertible in a ticker tape parade while roses are being thrown at him by the citizens of Iraq.
Were those Known Knowns or Known unknowns?
riiight… which is why someone just asked for 160 billion more to fund the war… great work!
Yup cause once you buy something it never breaks and everybody currently associated with GWOT got a one-time payment and is now working for free.
thanks for your support…
was that an actual response or just a snarky post?
Elund, I’m guessing the little piker has done a little more with his life than you.
Donald H. Rumsfeld was sworn in as the 21st Secretary of Defense on January 20, 2001. Before assuming his present post, the former Navy pilot had also served as the 13th Secretary of Defense, White House Chief of Staff, U.S. Ambassador to NATO, U.S. Congressman and chief executive officer of two Fortune 500 companies.
Secretary Rumsfeld is responsible for directing the actions of the Defense Department in response to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The war is being waged against a backdrop of major change within the Department of Defense. The department has developed a new defense strategy and replaced the old model for sizing forces with a newer approach more relevant to the 21st century. Secretary Rumsfeld proposed and the President approved a significant reorganization of the worldwide command structure, known as the Unified Command Plan, that resulted in the establishment of the U.S. Northern Command and the U.S. Strategic Command, the latter charged with the responsibilities formerly held by the Strategic and Space Commands which were disestablished.
The Department also has refocused its space capabilities and fashioned a new concept of strategic deterrence that increases security while reducing strategic nuclear weapons. To help strengthen the deterrent, the missile defense research and testing program has been reorganized and revitalized, free of the restraints of the ABM treaty.
Mr. Rumsfeld attended Princeton University on academic and NROTC scholarships (A.B., 1954) and served in the U.S. Navy (1954-57) as an aviator and flight instructor. In 1957, he transferred to the Ready Reserve and continued his Naval service in flying and administrative assignments as a drilling reservist until 1975. He transferred to the Standby Reserve when he became Secretary of Defense in 1975 and to the Retired Reserve with the rank of Captain in 1989.
In 1957, he came to Washington, DC to serve as Administrative Assistant to a Congressman. After a stint with an investment banking firm, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois in 1962, at the age of 30, and was re-elected in 1964, 1966, and 1968.
Mr. Rumsfeld resigned from Congress in 1969 during his fourth term to join the President’s Cabinet. From 1969 to 1970, he served as Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity and Assistant to the President. From 1971 to 1972, he was Counsellor to the President and Director of the Economic Stabilization Program. In 1973, he left Washington, DC, to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Brussels, Belgium (1973-1974).
In August 1974, he was called back to Washington, DC, to serve as Chairman of the transition to the Presidency of Gerald R. Ford. He then became Chief of Staff of the White House and a member of the President’s Cabinet (1974-1975). He served as the 13th U.S. Secretary of Defense, the youngest in the country’s history (1975-1977).
From 1977 to 1985 he served as Chief Executive Officer, President, and then Chairman of G.D. Searle & Co., a worldwide pharmaceutical company. The successful turnaround there earned him awards as the Outstanding Chief Executive Officer in the Pharmaceutical Industry from the Wall Street Transcript (1980) and Financial World (1981). From 1985 to 1990 he was in private business.
Mr. Rumsfeld served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of General Instrument Corporation from 1990 to 1993. General Instrument Corporation was a leader in broadband transmission, distribution, and access control technologies. Until being sworn in as the 21st Secretary of Defense, Mr. Rumsfeld served as Chairman of the Board of Gilead Sciences, Inc., a pharmaceutical company.
Before returning for his second tour as Secretary of Defense, Mr. Rumsfeld chaired the bipartisan U.S. Ballistic Missile Threat Commission, in 1998, and the U.S. Commission to Assess National Security Space Management and Organization, in 2000.
During his business career, Mr. Rumsfeld continued his public service in a variety of Federal posts, including: Member of the President’s General Advisory Committee on Arms Control (1982 - 1986); Special Presidential Envoy on the Law of the Sea Treaty (1982 - 1983); Senior Advisor to the President’s Panel on Strategic Systems (1983 - 1984); Member of the U.S. Joint Advisory Commission on U.S./Japan Relations (1983 - 1984); Special Presidential Envoy to the Middle East (1983 - 1984); Member of the National Commission on Public Service (1987 - 1990); Member of the National Economic Commission (1988 - 1989); Member of the Board of Visitors of the National Defense University (1988 - 1992); Member of the Commission on U.S./Japan Relations (1989 - 1991); and Member of the U.S. Trade Deficit Review Commission (1999 - 2000).
While in the private sector, Mr. Rumsfeld’s civic activities included service as a member of the National Academy of Public Administration and a member of the boards of trustees of the Gerald R. Ford Foundation, the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and the National Park Foundation, and as Chairman of the Eisenhower Exchange Fellowships, Inc.
In 1977, Mr. Rumsfeld was awarded the nation’s highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Yes he has, however no one can accuse me of screwing up an entire country. Or screwing up an entire war.
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. -TR
Rumsfeld, 2/7/03: “It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months.”
“We know where they are. They’re right up here in the area around Tikrit.” Secretary Donald Rumsfeld,
pointing to the exact location of the imaginary WMD
just another snarky post
typical
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Why would we go to war if our army was not ready? Esp. since we were the agressors and could pick the time and place? That would be different if we were defending ourselves, but Iraq was not a threat to us.
CST
“Why would we go to war if our army was not ready?”
Because an army is never truly ready and no war has ever been fought with all the details already worked out. All wars are won by those who make the least mistakes. History proves this over and over.
Our military folks have never read Sun Tzu’s Art of War?
Do you have idea of on how complex systems work? Are you providing your own living right now? Do you have a job? Is your life perfect and never have a obstecale pop up?
The Art of War is an amazing book written by a true genuis but guess what…you can’t do everything perfectly. In something as large as a war things go wrong. Things happen out of your control. Have you read the book?