Do George W. Bush And Donald Rumsfeld Make Us More Secure? The news from Iraq grows more painful everyday. But George W. Bush insists that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is doing a "superb" job.
Let's see:
Military experts agree there was inadequate planning for post-war Iraq, with Rumsfeld insisting on too few forces to handle the tough situations our troops would face. When Army Chief Eric Shinseki disagreed, he was punished.
Rumsfeld publicly insulted potential allies (remember his crack about "old Europe"?); now the burden in Iraq is being borne almost entirely by American troops and American resources.
Reports on prison abuses reveal a dysfunctional chain of command with disagreement about who was responsible and what role was played by military intelligence. Rumsfeld had been urged to alleviate conditions for months by Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) Administrator Paul Bremer -- but refused.
Political analysts say Bush doesn't want to admit he has a problem because that would mean admitting his Iraq policy is flawed. You think?
Sign the petition to fire Rumsfeld!
http://www.democrats.org/action/200405070001.html Latest Right-Wing Excuse For Prisoner Abuse: It's Women's Fault! Right-wing women have their own excuse for the revelations about prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib: Elaine Donnelly, President of the Center for Military Readiness, which opposes women in the military, explained that the prison atrocities are "exactly what feminists have dreamed of for years." Showing her own opinion of other women, Donnelly announced, "That demeaning photo of a female soldier with an Iraqi man on a leash -- a woman had to have taken that picture."
Columnist Linda Chavez says, "Although the military brass has been loath to admit it, the increased presence of women in the military serving in integrated units has made military discipline more challenging. While some advocates of women in the military have argued that women's presence would improve behavior, in fact, there is much evidence to suggest it has had the opposite effect."
And then there's Ann Coulter, who actually said "...this is lesson, you know, one million and 47 on why women shouldn't be in the military... women are more vicious than men." Well, Ann Coulter knows a lot about being vicious.
Apparently, the problem is all these uppity women undoing Donald Rumsfeld's good work!
"W is Wrong for Women"
This week the Bush-Cheney campaign kicked off their women's program this week headlined "W Stands For Women."
At the Women's Vote Center, we thought that slogan left out some important information: Like the Bush White House taking fact sheets abut women's pay off the government's web sites and cutting domestic violence funds, and the President's campaign strategist calling pro-choice Americans terrorists!
So we've produced our own fact sheet: W is Wrong for Women -- the Top Ten List.
You'll want a copy for your own use, and to give your friends. And if you hear of a Bush-Cheney women's event coming to your community, make sure you've got plenty of copies for the press and anyone else who might be interested.
Quotes Of The Week
"On the battlefield, Myers' and Rumsfeld's errors would be called a lack of situational awareness -- a failure that amounts to professional negligence...This was not just a failure of leadership at the local command level. This was a failure that ran straight to the top. Accountability here is essential...even if that means relieving top leaders from duty in a time of war." -Army Times, May 17 2004 edition
"I thought the administration would have to do the right things in Iraq - from prewar planning and putting in enough troops to dismissing the secretary of defense for incompetence - because surely this was the most important thing for the president and the country. But I was wrong. There is something even more important to the Bush crowd than getting Iraq right, and that's getting re-elected and staying loyal to the conservative base to do so." - Thomas Friedman , The New York Times , May 12, 2004