Donald Rumsfeld is a Genius

Check out this gem:

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Tuesday the U.S. military is too strong to lose the war in
Iraq, but ultimately political solutions will be needed to win.


"You've got a situation where it's not possible to lose militarily," Rumsfeld said. "It's also going to require more than military power to prevail."

Rumsfeld, in comments to reporters at the
Pentagon, said U.S. training of security forces in Iraq had been "rushed" but that placing U.S. trainers within the Iraqi police force would gradually boost Iraq's ability to reduce violence on its own.

What?  I suppose they have a definition of losing, but not of winning?  It would seem like the two go together.

Comments

[Mike]

Working in D.C. with Rumsfeld was enlightening... his staff nick named him Rummy Dummy...

He never had a sense of the present needs of the operation or effort only an attempt to rhetorically address possibilities. He wrote existentialist poetry... and was not in contact with his program.

He was always self-envolved sensing the need to possess the political moment in spite of the reality of need and urging of his support staff.

Needless to say Rummy is still himself.

[Bev]

These people are ALL idiots--

Iraq reality check: The cost in lives lost
POSTED: 1:37 p.m. EDT, October 17, 2006
From Joshua Levs

(CNN) -- Early in the Iraq conflict, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld dismissed insurgents as "dead-enders." In 2004, President Bush said the battle against these fighters was "turning a corner." In 2005, he described a "turning point," and Vice President Dick Cheney said the insurgency was in its "last throes."

Now, in 2006, those descriptions lie buried beneath thousands of bodies [...] The U.S. death toll is well above 2,700, and the coalition death toll just passed 3,000. Last month 776 U.S. troops were wounded -- the highest number in nearly two years. There is no sign the insurgency is waning, and no evidence to suggest it will any time soon.

A report published last week in the British medical journal The Lancet suggested the Iraqi death toll due to the war could be in the hundreds of thousands. The White House disputed that figure but provided no figure of its own.

The United Nations has reported a spike in Iraqi deaths this year, saying more than 3,000 Iraqi civilians died each month in July and August alone.

The violence in Iraq has "spiraled totally out of control," Jan Egeland, the top U.N. humanitarian official, said last week. He estimated 1.5 million internally displaced people who had to flee their homes amid the violence, and another 1.2 million to 1.5 million Iraqis who fled to neighboring countries.

At a news conference last week, Bush noted that attacks rise each year during the month of Ramadan. And he argued the violence can be seen as a sign U.S. efforts are making headway.

[fcc]

I have been an advocate that Rummy should step down and be replaced. New blood and more agressive ideas to end the conflict much more quickly. Rummy has even offered to step down. However the same question rises, with who? When Reps and Dems make the call they keep running into the same problem, who to replace Rummy with? Without a viable alternative, such a move cannot be pusued. Powell has crossed my radar but I am not so sure he is interested.

[fcc]

BTW, Reading n article a few years ago, Rummy does have an IQ in excess of 150. Good call John.

[Thomas Williams]

Rumsfield is a smart guy, that doesn't make him the guy for this job. I would reccommend James Webb the guy running against Allen in Virginia, or maybe someone like a former general. I am trying to think of someone who has written enlightened military policy articles and there aren't many that come to mind.

Tom

[Mike]

fcc...you can have a geat IQ and still be mentally unbalanced.... Rummy is full of himself...among other smelly excrement..

[Mike]

fcc in fact serial killers like Bundy and others had close to genius IQ's...leadership, intelligence, and insanity ... and interesting mix if you look at leaders in history...Adolf Hitler, Napolean Bonaparte, Joseph Stalin, Mao Tse Tung, Atilla the Hun, etc. The list is longer if you get into lesser known leaders that were totally nutz...or deranged.

[BAWDYSCOT]

Yeah, Mike, bring up Stalin, one of fcc's favorites.

[Mike]

PS...Webb is now a Democrat... DOD? Powell is to liberal... Joe Lieberman?

[fcc]

"fcc...you can have a geat IQ and still be mentally unbalanced.... Rummy is full of himself"

Mike,

And this makes Rummy different from 90% of congress how??? I'm sure you know Rummy personally, yet I doubt he is any more arrogan than anyone else is Washington. He offered to step-down, I wish another 90% of government would do the same. I'll bring up Bawdy's hero, Bill Clinton. The man was about as arrogant as a man can come. Yet he was a weak and poor leader.

[Bob]

Sorry to break in on this hugely enlightening discourse, but I just had to post about something I just found....Santorum's latest diatribe. And more evidence that being in government leads to mental imbalance.

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2006/10/17/santorum/index.html

[Mike]

They should have accepted his resignation...even he was screwing up by the numbers and was following a cold trail. He is smart enough to see that and sane enough to want to get the hell out of there.

[BAWDYSCOT]

fcc,

I just have to shrug my shoulders at your comments sometimes. When have I ever said or even insinuated Clinton was my hero? Nobody else on this site, not even the recent posters would come up with something like that. Please give me my posts which would even come close to hint at that kind of thinking. I don't even think I have ever said anything which would make anyone think I have a soft spot for him, ever. Are you sure you are not confusing me with someone else? I know you are confused, but......

[Bev]

bawdy, confused and CONFUSING.

If you haven't noticed, fcc has a double standard.
He always feels free to put us all in his own little teeny-tiny black and white boxes; but his large and lofty philosophies can't fit into one.

[BAWDYSCOT]

Bev,

I know you were being facetious, but his philosophies aren't lofty they are loony.

[Bev]

Amen!
And I'll tip a Guinness to that too!

[Jeff]

FCC,

i'll take clinton. he can be my hero if you want someone to randomly rip on. there is one thing clinton has going for him that will make history remember him in a positive light. he's sandwhiched in between a couple of bush's. thats like surrounding yourself with fat people to look skinnier.

[fcc]

Too easy.

[Mike]

Billy is having an identity crisis.

[BAWDYSCOT]

Sandwiched between a couple of bushes. I think that is exactly where Bill Clinton would want to reside. I'm sorry, I just had to.

[Thomas Williams]

Webb may be a Democrat, but he is well qualified for the Dod post Mr. Rumsfeld currently holds. See this party thing is the cause of all the problems. I do think Clinton was arrogant in that as the chief law enforcement officer of the country he had no problem lieing to a grand jury and if I had done the things with a subordinate he did while I was in the Corps (he was commander in chief during the last days of that for me) I would have been summarily dismissed. No questions asked. I do hold the President to a high standard as he/she sought the office and put themselves in that position. President Bush has many questions to answer, but he hasn't broken the law yet as far as I know. He also understands what the meaning of is is. But this is all past history and is good only for learning from. So, let's get beyond the normal ad hominem attacks based on actual or perceived party affilliation (sp?). For full disclosure, I am a member of the Constitution Party.

Tom

[Mike]

Curious...what does the Constitution Party have for a platform?

[BAWDYSCOT]

Thomas,

I won't argue with you about Clinton as I agree with you pretty much(catch that, fcc), but as far as Bush goes I cannot agree. The main job of the President is to uphold the Constitution, but Bush thinks it is the chest puffing job of Commander-in Chief. Now I will grant you, he is the Commander, but this is not the job he took the oath of office for. From First Amendment issues to the signing statements to the unlawful imprisonment of American citizens to the usurption of state's rights this man has been an abomination. And when it comes to things the President should help with(Katrina), he and his administration failed miserably(and before you get your shorts in a twist, I realize there is plenty of blame which should be foisted on the state and city governments also, but this doesn't exonerate Bush). I am not one who considers Bush a stupid man, just a misdirected one. And he sure isn't the statesman we need right now.

[Thomas Williams]

Bush has truly implemented a wrong strategy in Iraq. But until a case is filed which flies in the courts, he hasn't done anything. I mean until we as a country can come up with a definition of what torture is he hasn't done anything the Congress in the Patriot Act didn't authorize. Do I agree with the Patriot Act? No, but it is the law of the land right now. Much as the Boland Admendment was when Reagan, with Ollie as his gopher, violated it with the arms for hostages deal.
The Constitution Party simply believes in the Constitution and interpretations of it as the social contract we agree to live under as Americans. It isn't a living document in the sense that judicial appointees should be legislating from the bench. If you want to amend the Constitution, then follow the process within the document. Faith is also a part of it. In that as an individual of faith, that faith will influence all aspects of your life. You can google it and get to the website.

Tom

[Thomas Williams]

I don't mean to imply the Patriot Act does anything with torture. It goes with your First Amendment statement. I don't know if the proposed legislation on "torture" has been passed yet.

Tom