Rumsfeld shot himself in the foot
Re “Donald Rumsfeld’s self-inflicted wounds,” Current, Nov. 12
Frederick W. Kagan gives short consideration to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld’s fatal flaw: hubris. Rumsfeld listened only to what he wanted to hear. Kagan deftly avoided mentioning the missile defense system that was Rumsfeld’s focus before 9/11.
Rather than listening to the departing Clinton administration and national security experts about the threat of Al Qaeda, Rumsfeld’s priority was an expensive missile defense system that can be easily tricked. About $50 billion was spent during Rumsfeld’s regime, and still it’s not a reliable weapon. I’m opposed to spending my family’s share on useless gadgets. Kindly put it toward stem cell research, which has a remote chance of discovering something useful.
KIRK KNIGHT
Alameda
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I hold no sympathy for Rumsfeld. Had he really been the dedicated Defense secretary he aspired to be, he would have disagreed when the president wanted to invade Iraq. The proper response would have been, “Let’s finish the job we started in Afghanistan.” Rumsfeld’s resignation is a step toward healing the massive wounds he and the rest of the Bush administration have inflicted on our military and their families, not to mention our foreign policy.
GLENDA TAMBLYN
Palmdale
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Kagan appears to believe that some “other” version of the war in Iraq would have been successful. The U.S. was doomed to failure there because it was a foolish war that was impossible to win in the first place. You would have thought that after the Korean and Vietnam wars we would have figured out that wars of this nature aren’t the kind of wars that can be won in simple battle. Moreover, you would have thought that a secretary of Defense would be more interested in defending U.S. soil rather than conducting a war of “offense” in some other part of the world.
These days, the winning of the immediate battle means absolutely nothing. The real conflict is the outgrowth of problems that we don’t seem to comprehend.
The idea of whether we have enough troops involved absolutely misses the picture. We are fighting ideology, and such a war can hardly be won without the death of all opposition.
I can’t believe how stupid we’ve become as a nation.
STEVE CHANDLER
Santa Barbara