Ex-NATO chief wants Rumsfeld out
Originally published by Agence France-Press
Ex-NATO chief wants Rumsfeld out
AFP
A former NATO commander Saturday joined six other retired generals in calling for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's resignation.
"I believe secretary Rumsfeld hasn't done an adequate job. He should go," General Wesley Clark told Fox News Channel in an interview.
Clark said Rumsfeld, pictured here in an Al-Arabiya TV interview, and Vice President Dick Cheney had pushed the United States into Iraq, and said the invasion "had no connection" with the war on terror". "They pressed for this, they pressed for open warfare before the diplomacy was finished," said the retired general and Fox News analyst.
"It was a tragic mistake, a strategic blunder."
Asked whether it was appropriate to comment on the defense secretary's performance while the United States is at war, Clark replied: "It's more than an appropriate time. This country needed a better policy from the 2001 period on.
"Now these officers are saying at least give us somebody in the military chain of command who will listen. That's why secretary Rumsfeld has lost their confidence. He's made bad policy choices. It's time for new leadership."
Clark, who became supreme allied commander of NATO in 1997, is a frequent critic of the US administration's Iraq policy. He was a candidate for the Democratic Party presidential nomination in 2004 and is seen as a possible contender in the 2008 race.
President George W. Bush declared his "full support" for his embattled defense secretary Friday, moving to quell calls for Rumsfeld's resignation by a growing numbers of retired generals.
"Secretary Rumsfeld's energetic and steady leadership is exactly what is needed at this critical period," Bush said in a statement. "He has my full support and deepest appreciation."
Bush stepped in after six retired generals called for Rumsfeld's ouster, exposing a deep vein of discontent with his leadership within the military.
The generals, several of whom held key combat commands and staff positions, accused Rumsfeld of an arrogant disregard for military advice and for providing too few troops to pacify Iraq.
However, retired General Richard Myers, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, rushed to Rumsfeld's defense.
"My whole perception of this is it's bad for the military, and for military relations, and it's very bad for the country, potentially, because what we are hearing and what we are seeing is not the role the military play in our society," Myers said in an interview with CNN, broadcast Friday.
