WP: Should He Stay? (2nd Excerpt Woodward Book is Up)

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/01/AR2006100101148.html

After President Bush won reelection in 2004, White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. got out an 8 1/2 -by-11 spiral notebook, half an inch thick, with a blue cover. He called it his "hit-by-the-bus" book -- handy in case someone in the administration suddenly had to be replaced. He had intentionally used a student notebook, something he had bought himself, so it wouldn't be considered a government document or presidential record that might someday be opened to history. It was private and personal.

A second term traditionally leads to personnel changes. The question was whether one of them would involve Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld.

Card had to approach the issue with delicacy. Iraq was the centerpiece of everything now, and the president was clearly predisposed not to do anything that would disrupt the war effort. If Rumsfeld left, what would the impact be on overall momentum and on the morale of those who were doing the fighting? Rumsfeld had a virtual monopoly on defense contacts with the president, so there was no way the president could get independent information to answer those kinds of questions.

The champions of change at the Defense Department included Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser who would soon be nominated to become the new secretary of state; her replacement as national security adviser, Stephen J. Hadley; and Card himself.

Card had the names of 11 possible Rumsfeld replacements in his "hit-by-the-bus" book, among them Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.), who had been Al Gore's vice presidential running mate in 2000 and was a staunch defender of the Iraq war, and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

But Card thought the best replacement for Rumsfeld would be James A. Baker III, who had been White House chief of staff and Treasury secretary under President Ronald Reagan, then secretary of state and chief political adviser to the president's father.

[w13rd0]

1. Surprise Surprise!

James "the Fixer" Baker and Joe Lieberman. On the same list, two men instumental in delivering the 2000 Election to George W Bush...

[grasswire]

2. time for Mr. Herbits to leak his memo

"One of the harshest critics of what happened in Iraq as the security situation deteriorated and the insurgency intensified was Rumsfeld's own aide, Herbits.

On July 15, 2004, Herbits sat down at his computer and wrote another memo, a scathing seven-page report titled "Summary of Post-Iraq Planning and Execution Problems." Though he discussed the postwar planning and policies, and the tenure of L. Paul Bremer III as head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, his real target was his friend of 37 years. The memo listed a series of tough questions:"

Be a hero, Herbits. Leak the memo.

[RamboLiberal]

5. Agree - Herbits needs to spill his guts

from the posted article:

· "Who made the decision and why didn't we reconstitute the Iraqi army?"

· "Did no one realize we were going to need Iraqi security forces?"

· "Did no one anticipate the importance of stabilization and how best to achieve it?"

· "Why was the de-Baathification so wide and deep?"

"Rumsfeld's style of operation," Herbits wrote, was the "Haldeman model, arrogant" -- a reference to President Richard M. Nixon's White House chief of staff, H.R. "Bob" Haldeman.

"Indecisive, contrary to popular image," Herbits wrote of Rumsfeld. "Would not accept that some people in some areas were smarter than he. . . . Trusts very few people. Very, very cautious. Rubber glove syndrome -- a tendency not to leave his fingerprints on decisions."

[sandnsea]

3. could it really be the keystone kops

I always thought things were fucked up becaus they only see things through corporate profits. From reading this, they're really just idiots. Rumsfeld didn't respond to Katrina because Bush didn't personally ask him to???? oh my lord. what a mess.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

4. Well - If Baker was as good at fighting wars as stealing elections.....