U.S. senators press Rumsfeld on salvaging Iraq

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N12593787.htm

WASHINGTON, May 12 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Wednesday called the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal "a body blow for the country" and one Republican senator questioned how the Bush administration could hope to turn over authority to Baghdad in June when Iraqi cities were being abandoned to "a bunch of thugs."

The senators, reeling from the abuse scandal and revenge beheading of an American citizen, angrily pressed Rumsfeld on how the Iraq operation can be salvaged.

Rumsfeld called the unfurling scandal "a body blow for the country" and predicted more revelations of abuses. But he said "enormous progress" in Iraq is being ignored.

"I look at Iraq and all I can say is I hope it comes out well, and I believe it will," the defense chief said in his first public appearance on Capitol Hill since all-day hearings on the abuse scandal on Friday when a number of Democrats called for his resignation.

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[htuttle]

1. Rumsfeld: "All I can say is I hope it comes out well"

Now there's the mark of a SUPERB leader! He's definitely the big man in charge, you betcha!

:eyes:

[jpak]

16. Sounds like a guy who is about to "cut and run" from the position of SOD.

n/t

[readmylips]

25. I hope it comes out well, Dr. said to Cheney.....

in reference to his many heart operations. I thought wars were based on fact and tactics, and not on wishful thinking. What a jerk.

I forgot, bush did call the nation to war on wishful thinking and because Sadam tried to kill my daddy.

[LisaM]

2. Oh, gee, I just go to work and say, "gee, I hope

I can do my job today! I hope it turns out well."

Of course, this is the same gang that lets Condi Rice say, "how could we spend time on terrorism? We were only 233 days into the job."

Do they account for anything?

[Spazito]

3. OMG!

"I look at Iraq and all I can say is I hope it comes out well"! This from the Secretary of Defence of the United States and the "best Sec of Defence ever" according to bush! HOPE????

I only HOPE that the senators came down hard on that astounding statement!

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. It is so good to see the "adults"

are in charge... so good indeed.

Damn, this is so good... I feel so "safe" with this crowd in charge

[enough]

5. Faith-based foreign policy.

Rumsfeld to senators: "I look at Iraq and all I can say is I hope it comes out well, and I believe it will."

Is this all they've got?

[Tellurian]

6. Thinks Could be worse. Rumy could've been Dr. Rumsfeld, brain surgeon

hee!

[The_Casual_Observer]

7. "salvaging Iraq"

This isn't exactly the kind of mood that was projected last year by the neocons was it.

[reprobate]

8. This is from the mouth of Donald "Dr. Strangelove" Rumsfeld?

[boobooday]

9. We only unleashed death and destruction

Then we sit back and "hope it comes out well."

If these people are not tried for war crimes, then all hope for humanity is lost.



http://www.wgoeshome.com

[Kagemusha]

10. I am sorry to inform you all of this,

but Donald Rumsfeld does not believe in prediction.

He thinks all you people who claim to have predicted chaos are defeatist nuts who can't possibly know, but think you do.

Put another way, only God can know the future. Rumsfeld doesn't think he does, he doesn't think he can. So he doesn't try. He does what he figures is best and has faith in the outcome.

My source is Douglas Feith, quoted in a magazine article..

[progressiveBadger]

11. That's not an excuse

Just because someone thinks a certain way doesn't mean that they are exempt from their duty. If he doesn't like to tell the future, then DON'T. But don't say things like "I hope...". It just proves that he has his head so far up his ass that he doesn't understand that the World doesn't need to hear his hopes and dreams, they need to know what the hell we are going to do about this illegal war.

[Dhalgren]

12. If that statement is a true reflection of Rumsfled's

ideology, then he is unfit for the job of SoD. The job of all of our governmental officials is to operate the government in a legal, just, and fair manner with their eyes on the future and the betterment of conditions for the American people. If he simply says, 'I can't predict the future and I don't try', he is either a lyar, an idiot or both. In any case, he is unfit to hold his position. I bet he handles his stock portfolio in the same way - just pick stuff, because, hey, we can't and don't try to predict the future. Total bullshit and stupid, to boot!

[phaed]

13. Excuse me, but

I've heard much about the "tremendous progress" and the "amazing things" being done in the push for democracy in Iraq. Can anyone give me a link or some insight into these "wondrous" events? I've yet to see anything positive.

[newyawker99]

24. Hi phaed!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Just Me]

14. He is a true Machiavellian. n/t

[BattyDem]

15. Rummy ... dude ... there's no salvaging Iraq

we blew it big time! Turn it over to the UN and let those poor people begin to rebuild their country and their lives.

[MSgt213]

17. Why do we put up with this man and is inane and insane views on what his

job entails. The guy is an ass clown. Treats the press and congress with contempt. Has lead us with GWB's blessing into a nightmare that we can't wake up from. When is this mad man going to be fired. I feel for John Kerry if he wins this election. I got a feeling his and his advisors first day on the job are going to entail saying "What the fuck" a great deal.

[Az_lefty]

18. Golly, I hope it comes out well too.

what a gret leader /-sarcasm/

[damnraddem]

19. If you break it, you own it.

They broke it.

[Mountainman]

20. We are funding gambling addict

They have no answers as to how to deal with this and they are asking for more money and more troops. Surely sounds like Vietnam to me.
Fire them all!

[Cocoa]

21. Myers with the cute bicycle analogy

Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, compared the transition to teaching someone to ride a bicycle.

"Eventually ... you've got to take the hand off the bicycle seat and see how far they get. And if they fall over and bruise themselves ... you put a Band-Aid on the knee and off they go again," Myers said.

[opihimoimoi]

22. We can apply the same to Bush/Rummy/etc...... they are amateurs

learning on the job.

[Spinzonner]

23. Yeah, and those bikes that fight back are really a bitch

Simple minded idiot.

This is the kind of thinking that makes you a chairman of the JCS these days ?

Oh wait, he's operating during the Bush misadministration; silly me.