Weekly Mail--Goodbye and Good Riddance
In the days following 9/11, most Americans were thirsty for retaliation.
Most people wanted Osama Bin Laden to be brought to justice one way or another, if it meant invading Afghanistan. Others, like myself, didn’t care if we had to blow up that entire side of the world to seek our revenge. Of course there were others who felt like this was some sort of comeuppence for years of American intrusion. That we were either partly or mostly to blame for what happened on that day.
I felt that people in that latter group were spineless weasels who were going to hate America no matter who was in charge or what decisions were made. I had (and for the most part still have) no use for those sort of people. I felt we needed someone who was ready to rumble, who was going to bomb who we needed to bomb, and take out who ever needed to be taken out, in order to get who had done this to us and to make sure that it didn’t happen again. We needed someone who wouldn’t apologize for any of this stuff.
We needed someone like Donald Rumsfeld.
Yes he was arrogant, and unapologetic and he sneered when he was asked a question he didn’t like. Yes, he could be a complete and total a- hole. I don’t know if he was a guy I’d like to have to my house for dinner.
But at a time when there were some who thought we owed the world an apology, Rumsfeld offered none. We were going to get who did this to us and destroy them, and that was that. That’s what I wanted to hear. That’s what I needed to hear.
So when Rumsfeld said that part of bringing justice to our enemies was to overthrow Saddam Hussein, I backed him up. And I believed that those opposing him and the administration were either the same losers who were blaming our policies for 9/11, or new weasels who didn’t have the guts to come out and say it on or after 9/11. I gave Rumsfeld the benefit of the doubt. But I found out a few things along the way.
For one thing, I found out that the stockpiles of weapons they said were there were in fact not. OK, guess what? Several countries had intel that said there were weapons there, and it wasn’t unreasonable to think Saddam was making weapons in the 4 years that there were no inspections there.
Another thing I found out was that there was no connections between Iraq and what happened on 9/11. And that fighting Iraq meant pulling troops off the hunt for Al-Qaeda. Now some of these people who were questioning Iraq were sounding less like anti-American zealots and were starting to have reasonable concerns.
But worst of all, I also found out that he sent troops into harms way without proper training for a battle with insurgents. I also found out that he sent troops in without a comprehensive plan to secure the country after the fall of Saddam. I found out that he sent the greatest military with one of the biggest defense budgets in the world, into a war where they had to fix their jeeps and tanks with scrap metals.
And then I heard that when he was asked about all of this, that his answer was “You go to battle with the army you have, not the one you want?”
Say that again?
Hey Don, how about going into a war with the army you NEED. The army you need to ensure victory with the fewest amount of casualties. Rumsfeld failed to do this and the result is a war that right now, doesn’t look like its going to have a good ending for us.
The other day the election results reflected a nation that has grown war weary. There was a race in New Jersey, in which an absolute crook named Bob Menendez beat the son of former Governor Tom Kean, strictly because Menendez was able to paint Kean Jr as a Bush cronie who supported the war. There were similar results around the country, albeit in most of those races, the Democratic candidate wasn’t close to being as corrupt as Menendez. My point is the country wanted a change of direction. I can’t say I disagree with that.
Rumsfeld got thrown under the bus the other day. He got what he deserved. Now maybe, the country will get the Defense Secretary that we need, not the one we don’t want.
Most people wanted Osama Bin Laden to be brought to justice one way or another, if it meant invading Afghanistan. Others, like myself, didn’t care if we had to blow up that entire side of the world to seek our revenge. Of course there were others who felt like this was some sort of comeuppence for years of American intrusion. That we were either partly or mostly to blame for what happened on that day.
I felt that people in that latter group were spineless weasels who were going to hate America no matter who was in charge or what decisions were made. I had (and for the most part still have) no use for those sort of people. I felt we needed someone who was ready to rumble, who was going to bomb who we needed to bomb, and take out who ever needed to be taken out, in order to get who had done this to us and to make sure that it didn’t happen again. We needed someone who wouldn’t apologize for any of this stuff.
We needed someone like Donald Rumsfeld.
Yes he was arrogant, and unapologetic and he sneered when he was asked a question he didn’t like. Yes, he could be a complete and total a- hole. I don’t know if he was a guy I’d like to have to my house for dinner.
But at a time when there were some who thought we owed the world an apology, Rumsfeld offered none. We were going to get who did this to us and destroy them, and that was that. That’s what I wanted to hear. That’s what I needed to hear.
So when Rumsfeld said that part of bringing justice to our enemies was to overthrow Saddam Hussein, I backed him up. And I believed that those opposing him and the administration were either the same losers who were blaming our policies for 9/11, or new weasels who didn’t have the guts to come out and say it on or after 9/11. I gave Rumsfeld the benefit of the doubt. But I found out a few things along the way.
For one thing, I found out that the stockpiles of weapons they said were there were in fact not. OK, guess what? Several countries had intel that said there were weapons there, and it wasn’t unreasonable to think Saddam was making weapons in the 4 years that there were no inspections there.
Another thing I found out was that there was no connections between Iraq and what happened on 9/11. And that fighting Iraq meant pulling troops off the hunt for Al-Qaeda. Now some of these people who were questioning Iraq were sounding less like anti-American zealots and were starting to have reasonable concerns.
But worst of all, I also found out that he sent troops into harms way without proper training for a battle with insurgents. I also found out that he sent troops in without a comprehensive plan to secure the country after the fall of Saddam. I found out that he sent the greatest military with one of the biggest defense budgets in the world, into a war where they had to fix their jeeps and tanks with scrap metals.
And then I heard that when he was asked about all of this, that his answer was “You go to battle with the army you have, not the one you want?”
Say that again?
Hey Don, how about going into a war with the army you NEED. The army you need to ensure victory with the fewest amount of casualties. Rumsfeld failed to do this and the result is a war that right now, doesn’t look like its going to have a good ending for us.
The other day the election results reflected a nation that has grown war weary. There was a race in New Jersey, in which an absolute crook named Bob Menendez beat the son of former Governor Tom Kean, strictly because Menendez was able to paint Kean Jr as a Bush cronie who supported the war. There were similar results around the country, albeit in most of those races, the Democratic candidate wasn’t close to being as corrupt as Menendez. My point is the country wanted a change of direction. I can’t say I disagree with that.
Rumsfeld got thrown under the bus the other day. He got what he deserved. Now maybe, the country will get the Defense Secretary that we need, not the one we don’t want.
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