http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/04/14/america/military.php
Fifth retired general calls for Rumsfeld's resignation
By David S. Cloud and Eric Schmitt The New York Times
FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 2006
WASHINGTON The widening circle of retired generals who have stepped
forward to call for the U.S. defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld's resignation is
shaping up as an unusual outcry that could pose a significant challenge to
Rumsfeld's leadership, current and former generals said Thursday.
Maj. Gen. Charles H. Swannack Jr., who led troops on the ground in Iraq
as recently as 2004 as the commander of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division, on
Thursday became the fifth retired senior general in recent days to call
publicly for Rumsfeld's ouster. Later in the day, another retired general, Maj.
Gen. John Riggs, joined in the fray.
"We need to continue to fight the global war on terror and keep it off
our shores," Swannack said in a telephone interview. "But I do not believe
Secretary Rumsfeld is the right person to fight that war based on his absolute
failures in managing the war against Saddam in Iraq."
Another former Army commander in Iraq, Maj. Gen. John Batiste, who led
the First Infantry Division, publicly broke ranks with Rumsfeld on Wednesday.
Rumsfeld long ago became a magnet for political attacks. But the current uproar
is significant because among Rumsfeld's critics are generals who were involved
in the invasion and occupation of Iraq under the defense secretary's
leadership.
There were indications on Thursday that the concern about Rumsfeld,
rooted in years of pent-up anger about his handling of the war, was sweeping
aside the reticence of retired generals who took part in the Iraq war to
criticize an enterprise in which they participated. Current and former officers
said they were unaware of any organized campaign to seek Rumsfeld's ouster, but
they described a blizzard of telephone calls and e-mail messages as retired
generals critical of Rumsfeld weighed the pros and cons of joining in the
condemnation.
Even as some of their retired colleagues spoke out publicly about
Rumsfeld, other senior officers, retired and active alike, had to be promised
anonymity before they would discuss their own views of why the criticism of him
was mounting. Some were concerned about what would happen to them if they spoke
openly, others about damage to the military that might result from amplifying
the debate, and some about talking outside of channels, which in military
circles is often viewed as inappropriate.
The White House has dismissed the criticism, saying it merely reflects
tensions over the war in Iraq. There was no indication that Rumsfeld was
considering resigning.
"The president believes Secretary Rumsfeld is doing a very fine job
during a challenging period in our nation's history," the White House
spokesman, Scott McClellan, told reporters Thursday.
Among the five senior retired generals who have called for Rumsfeld's
ouster, some have emphasized that they still believe it was right for the
United States to invade Iraq. But a common thread in their complaints has been
an assertion that Rumsfeld and his aides too often inserted themselves
unnecessarily into military decisionmaking, often disregarding advice from
military commanders .
The outcry also appears based in part on a coalescing of concern about
the toll that the war is taking on American armed forces, with little sign,
three years after the invasion, that United States troops will be able to
withdraw in large numbers anytime soon.
Pentagon officials, while acknowledging that Rumsfeld's forceful style
has sometimes ruffled his military subordinates, played down the idea that he
was overriding the advice of his military commanders or ignoring their views.
His interaction with military commanders has "been frequent," said
Lawrence Di Rita, a top aide to Rumsfeld.
"It's been intense," Di Rita said, "but always there's been ample
opportunity for military judgment to be applied against the policies of the
United States."
Some retired officers, however, said they believed the momentum was
turning against Rumsfeld.
"Are the floodgates opening?" asked one retired Army general, who drew a
connection between the complaints and the fact that President Bush's second
term ends in less than three years. "The tide is changing, and folks are seeing
the end of this administration."
No active duty officers have joined the call for Rumsfeld's resignation.
In interviews, some currently serving general officers expressed discomfort
with the campaign against Rumsfeld, which has been spearheaded by, among
others, Gen. Anthony Zinni, who headed the United States Central Command in the
late 1990's before retiring. Some of the currently serving officers said they
feared the debate risked politicizing the military and undercutting its
professional ethos.
Some say privately they disagree with aspects of the Bush
administration's handling of the war. But many currently serving officers,
regardless of their views, say respect for civilian control of the military
requires that they air differences of opinion in private and stay silent in
public.
"I support my secretary of defense," Lt. General John Vines, who commands
the Army's 18th Airborne Corps, said when questioned after a speech in
Washington on Thursday about the calls for Rumsfeld to step down. "If I
publicly disagree with my civilian leadership, I think I've got to resign. My
advice should be private."
Some of the tensions between Rumsfeld and the uniformed military services
date back to his arrival at the Pentagon in early 2001. Rumsfeld's assertion of
greater civilian control over the military and his calls for a slimmer, faster
force were viewed with mistrust by many senior officers, while his aggressive,
sometimes abrasive style also earned him enmity.
Rumsfeld's critics often point to his treatment of Gen. Eric Shinseki,
then the Army chief of staff, who told Congress a month before the 2003
invasion of Iraq that occupying the country could require "several hundred
thousand troops," rather than the smaller force that was later provided.
General Shinseki's estimate was publicly dismissed by Pentagon officials.
"Rumsfeld has been contemptuous of the views of senior military officers
since the day he walked in as secretary of defense. It's about time they got
sick and tired," Thomas E. White, the former Army secretary, said in a
telephone interview on Thursday. White was forced out of his job by Rumsfeld in
April of 2003.
Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold of the Marine Corps, who retired in late 2002,
has said he regarded the American invasion of Iraq unnecessary. He issued his
call for replacing Rumsfeld in an essay in the current edition of Time
magazine. General Newbold said he regretted not opposing the invasion of Iraq
more vigorously, and called the invasion peripheral to the job of defeating Al
Qaeda.
General Swannack, by contrast, continues to support the invasion but said
that Rumsfeld had micromanaged the war in Iraq, rather than leaving it to
senior commanders there, including Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the top American
officer in Iraq, and Gen. John P. Abizaid, the top officer in the Middle East.
"My belief is Rumsfeld does not really understand the dynamic of
counterinsurgency warfare," Swannack said.
The string of retired generals calling for Rumsfeld's removal has touched
off a vigorous debate within the ranks of both active-duty and retired generals
and admirals.
Some officers who have worked closely with Rumsfeld reject the idea that
he is primarily to blame for the inability of American forces to defeat the
insurgency in Iraq. One active-duty, four-star Army officer said he had not
heard among his peers widespread criticism of Rumsfeld, and said he thought the
criticism from his retired colleagues was off base. "They are entitled to their
views, but I believe them to be wrong. And it is unfortunate they have allowed
themselves to become in some respects, politicized."
Gen. Jack Keane, who was Army vice chief of staff in 2003 before
retiring, said in the planning of the Iraq invasion, senior officers as much as
the Pentagon's civilian leadership underestimated the threat of a long-term
insurgency.
"There's shared responsibility here. I don't think you can blame the
civilian leadership alone," he said.
The criticism of Rumsfeld may spring from multiple motives. Zinni, for
example, is in the middle of a tour promoting a new book critical of the Bush
administration.
General Riggs, who called for Rumsfeld's resignation in an interview with
National Public Radio Thursday, left the Pentagon in 2004 after clashing with
civilian leaders and then being investigated for potential misuse of contractor
personnel.
But there were also signs that the spate of retired generals calling for
Rumsfeld's departure was not finished. Lt. Gen. Paul Van Riper, who is retired,
said in an interview Thursday he had received a telephone call from another
retired general who was weighing whether to publicly join the calls for
Rumsfeld's dismissal.
"He was conflicted, and when I hung up I didn't know which way he was
going to go," Van Riper said.
Thom Shanker contributed reporting for this article.
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