Donald Rumsfeld: Maybe He Thought The Situtation Was In Hand!

So much anger and ire have been directed at Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld as of late that it makes me begin to wonder. Just what makes this one guy the culprit of all that is wrong with our military in Iraq. It seems the left in general, the liberals and Democrats, have made Mr. Rumsfeld the whipping boy for the whole affair in Iraq. To be sure there have been many, many things that have gone right. Our media, for some reason, does not want to tell us that part of the story. They sure like to beat a guy if they have a chance though.

On the talk shows, TV news shows, newspapers, and Internet, Mr. Rumsfeld has borne the brunt of the criticism on the handling of the war in Iraq. While Mr. Rumsfeld has made some mistakes, as all Secretary’s of Defense do, he should not have to bear the burden of all the mistakes the military has made in Iraq.

A few frequent questions that arise have me wondering. The critics ask why did he not ask questions or do something when the munitions depots were being raided or the National Museum was being plundered by the Iraqi’s. While there may be no easy answer to these questions, I have a few thoughts on just what Mr. Rumsfeld might have been thinking.

Is it too far-fetched to think the Secretary may have thought our Armed Forces had the situation under control? Mr. Rumsfeld surely had to think when the American generals, along with other officers, found out the weapons caches were being plundered they would take action to stop it. The same thing would hold true for the National Museum. Or any other similar situation in the country.

It appears we just sat by and let the Iraqi’s pretty much plunder what they wanted. Mr. Rumsfeld sits in Washington D.C. His office is at the Pentagon. He does not work in the Theatre of Operations. Our generals lead the war in that arena. Mr. Rumsfeld has to depend on these generals, and by extension, officers of lesser rank to do what is right and proper in the field. Mr. Rumsfeld has to trust our soliders to stop actions such as plunder and pillage.

After the fall of Saddam the whole of Iraq was in chaos. A people held in bondage for so long were suddenly cut loose of chains. When it was time for them to stand up and do right they chose to destroy their own country. They have to step up and share a lot of the blame for that. Our military should have stepped in and restored and kept order in this chaotic time. I think our Secretary of Defense thought our officers would have handled the situation better.

Mr. Rumsfeld has to take his share of the blame for the happenings in Iraq. He is the top dog. If our military would have gone ahead and done the proper thing at the right time Iraq would be in much better shape now. And our military would be looked on in a much kinder light. Mr. Rumsfeld has had a lot of hateful venom slung at him. I am not sure he deserves all that. Our Armed Forces could have made a big difference in all of this.

So maybe when we hear some retired and digruntled generals criticizing Mr. Rumsfeld and his handling of the war, we should ask these generals to take a long hard look at their actions in the field. They may have been the ones who dropped the ball. They would need to deflect some heat off themselves!