CYA — it's not just for pundits anymore:
“In my view it is time for a major adjustment,” wrote Mr. Rumsfeld, who has been a symbol of a dogged stay-the-course policy. “Clearly, what U.S. forces are currently doing in Iraq is not working well enough or fast enough.”
Nor did Mr. Rumsfeld seem confident that the administration would readily develop an effective alternative. To limit the political fallout from shifting course he suggested the administration consider a campaign to lower public expectations.
“Announce that whatever new approach the U.S. decides on, the U.S. is doing so on a trial basis,” he wrote. “This will give us the ability to readjust and move to another course, if necessary, and therefore not ‘lose.’ ”
No, no. Wouldn't want to "look" like we were losing. Next thing you know, we'd be losing. Or something.
“Recast the U.S. military mission and the U.S. goals (how we talk about them) — go minimalist,” he added. Mr. Rumsfeld’s memo suggests frustration with the pace of turning over responsibility to the Iraqi authorities; in fact, the memo calls for examination of ideas that roughly parallel troop withdrawal proposals presented by some of the White House’s sharpest Democratic critics. (Text of the Memo)
Why does Donald Rumsfeld hate America?
The memorandum sometimes has a finger-wagging tone as Mr. Rumsfeld says that the Iraqis must “pull up their socks,” and suggests reconstruction aid should be withheld in violent areas to avoid rewarding “bad behavior.”
If only they'd greeted us with flowers, none of this would have happened.
Update: Digby has more on Rumsfeld's flawless handiwork at the Pentagon. Decades.
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Fitz
Here’s your medal Mr. Rumsfeld
Great. Leave as many angry people unemployed as possible. Brilliant!
That fool cannot leave fast enough.
“Pull up their socks” my Aunt Fanny. The people of Iraq did not ask for the destruction visited upon them.
So, it took the firing of his ass to change his mind on Iraq?
Do you think it’d work with Cheney and W? Let’s try it!
I’ve got a sock for ya right here, Rummy.
Open wide…….
Jane !!
TeddySanFran @
7
TSF!!
Who’s got some Advil? My headache is now in full tilt boogie mode. First Prager and now Rummy. Help Me. LOL.
Don:
What U.S. forces are currently doing in Iraq is not working well enough or fast enough? No, Mr. Secretary, what you and the BoyKing are ordering U.S. forces to do in Iraq is not working.
Troops
Home
NOW
Jane Hamsher @ 8
TeddySanFran ‘n Jane!!
(snuggles)
WASHINGTON, Dec. 2 — Two days before he resigned as defense secretary, Donald H. Rumsfeld submitted a classified memo to the White House that acknowledged that the Bush administration’s strategy in Iraq was not working and called for a major course correction.
“In my view it is time for a major adjustment,” wrote Mr. Rumsfeld, who has been a symbol of a dogged stay-the-course policy. “Clearly, what U.S. forces are currently doing in Iraq is not working well enough or fast enough.”
It didn’t work for another Republican (Robert McNamara) and it will not work for you. Mr. Rumesfeld. Go to Hell.
Rummy did have one good idea…
Hey — ya think he’s suckin up to Billary here?
Finally a CYA. Ususally they don’t even acknowledge something that is wrong. Should this be viewed as a sign of hope?
(Of course not. These a-holes still can’t keep anything straight. Did you hear the one about the US F-16 shot down over Iraq? They don’t know who was flying it (all pilots accounted for). So now the military is going to do DNA testing to figure out who died. http://adoredbyhordes.blogspot…..up-pt.html)
Were my expectations any lower right now, you’d see me filling sandbags and setting up fire positions, and muttering things like “Prepare to repel boarders!” and “They’ll never take me alive!”
“Go minimalist”. WTF does that mean? Do even less to fix this disaster than before? Cut back on the lying? Somebody throw me a bone here, I just don’t get it.
I used to view politicians and senior officials with respect and a confidence that they were the most competent people imaginable.
God, how that’s changed. I literally wouldnt trust these clowns to manage a boy-scout jamboree – not just because they’re pedophiles and sexually messed up and closeted – but because they seem to be able to fuck up the simplest of things.
Except lying, of course. That seems to come naturally.
1. There are no socks.
2. There is no reconstruction aid to withhold, Mr. Secretary. Your cronys have it.
3. There are no not-violent areas.
4. Agree on the not rewarding “bad behavior” so GO!
Get thee to Mt. Misery, the Eastern Shore Slavery Palace we’ve secured for you with our tax dollars. GO NOW!
How characteristic of this administration that Dumbsfeld finally makes a token acknowledgement of reality and two days later gets the bum’s rush.
Prairie Sunshine @ 56
I’ll take CYA in all categories for $500, please.
Heheh. I wonder when the WH produces backdated memos do they bother fiddling with the tags on the computer files, or only the date on the memo itself?
Oklahoma kiddo @
12
“Why does Donald Rumsfeld hate America?”
He’s a Republican.
TheOtherWA @
3
That’s exactly what Rummy/Bremer did to the regular Iraqi army guys, only they had guns and were pissed off unemployed.
nutria!
Oklahoma kiddo @ 22
Bingo! You win a pair of socks!
TeddySanFran @ 24
nutria
PeteCO @ 16
I believe he means redefining “Victory” in such a way as to be able to proclaim anything short of everyone dying a Grand Success. I remember a Calvin and Hobbes strip that plays this idea perfectly. Lower the goals far enough and we can say we’ve already met them and can go home. I’d say this is an excellent idea, but that’s just me.
The level of disgust I feel toward Donald Rumsfeld cannot be put into words.
Jacqrat @
11
Oh Teddy, I was sorry I did not get a chance to see you, Punaise, kirk murphy, Peterr and others before I left SF yesterday — we thought we had more time before we had to be out of the place we were in and had to pack up and rush out at the last minute. I was hoping to have a brunch that never happened.
Left SF yesterday, went to see Markos in Berkeley first, left my wallet & didn’t discover it ’til I was 300 miles north. Almost had to go throw myself on Hunter’s mercy but then I found some cash in my stuff and had enough for gas to get to Oregon but wound up driving all night.
The dogs were so excited that when they got out of the car they didn’t even pee, they went straight to the front door. So happy running on the beach just now.
Back to my boring bloggy life after nearly 6 months on the road. Couldn’t be happier.
rumi @ 23
They sure did. Out of work, pension gone (we said we weren’t responsible for that) and heavily armed. And the ammunition dumps were left unguarded. Who could have predicted everything would go so badly?
Besides everyone with more than 3 brain cells to rub together, I mean.
dwwenz @ 28
it probably rivals my unwavering contempt for Joe Lieberman.
jeffreyw @ 27
Isn’t that kind of like the soft bigotry of low expectations?
Wasn’t Rumsfeld the CEO of the company that brought us “nutria-sweet”?
Rummy’s magician pose is a nice touch. “Hey Rocky, watch me pull an exit strategy out of my ass!”
Hmm, did anyone think Rumsferatu would stop being an asshole after he left the administration? If so, a show of hands….
Just what I thought, too. :)
BTW, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan weren’t the only things Rummy fucked up.
punaise @ 31
Equals. Yes.
punaise @ 31
Actually, for me, Lieberman is ‘bottom drawer’
Jane – yeah, we were a little slow in making that Bay Area FDL brunch happen…minor distraction of an election, and all that!
Glad you and the doggies are home safe and sound.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 37
put Joe on the top shelf. leave him there.
Well, then, the trek to see you begins soon!
Jane Hamsher @ 29
Hi Jane – sorry I missed you when you were here, but welcome back to the Oregon Coast.
Hope you and the dogs have a wonderful reunion with the beach.
punaise @
38
Yeah, that and having to fly to fly all over the frigging map — seemed like I was in the air more than I was on the ground there for a while.
How that happened to my basically agoraphobe self I’m not quite sure but somehow it did.
TeddySanFran @ 41
FDL Left Coast road trip!
TeddySanFran @
41
Don’t tease! You must. Kobe says. He promises not to have the runs this time.
Nothing could illustrate that the DOD has been in the hands of a desiccated, doddering old fool than his comment that the Iraqi’s should ‘pull up their socks’.
The language of the 1930s delivered by a 72 year old fool worth in excess of 200 million bucks…
Wonder where all that dough came from?
I don’t.
PeteCO says
December 2nd, 2006 at 2:58 pm*
Yes, it is akin. One is prospective, the other retrospective.
One says, “It’ll be hard to win, the other is very strong”.
The other says, “Never mind the score. We’ll just say I won because I did show up”.
PeteCO @ 25
I accept no administration socks. I accept scalps though. Does Bush know if the Iraqi’s wear socks? Is Don assuming they do, or does he have hard and verifiable evidence in support of his premise? Or is the Secretary introducing facts which may not be in evidence? After all, aren’t the Iraqi’s basically primitive? Mostly Iraqi’s are Muslim, are they not? Do Muslims sport socks? This ’sock’ business could very well bear further investigation.
punaise @ 40
The trophy shelf?
Jane, next time your travels bring you through the Bay Area, give us a heads up so we can pull something together. There’s no reason that Swopa should get all the local face time…:~)
Oklahoma kiddo @ 49
the atrophied self.
Combined with what I saw from Gen. Barry McCaffrey and David (Leaker) Gergan yesterday, I think the GOP got to Rumsfeld. DeadEye and Bush are at Last Stand Hill. If they don’t abide by the findings of the Iraq Slow-Learners Group, I suspect that the GOP might be more inclined to look at impeachment. They don’t want get swacked two elections in a row over Iraq. Also, I think a lot of them finally figured out what the “floor” in the ME looks like. Region wide civil war could cause interuptions in oil deliveries leading to a world-wide depression. We’re a lot closer to that scenario than we were before Bush invaded/occupied.
I’m really looking forward to Ambassador Wilson’s thread on Monday.
A.Citizen @ 46
Not sayin’
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories…..5985.shtml
youtube here
Just sayin’
Error,jc
punaise @ 51
That or the entropy shelf perhaps.
Aha, a moment of truth opportunity for the Sunday morning gasbag show hosts. Will they call bullshit? J-LIE’s on FACE, Hadley’s on Snuffy’s show, and John Warner’s on with Timmeh. As Froomkin would say, this is an opportunity for all of us to evaluate whether these hosts will ask the tough questions or will it be CYA blather moments for J-LIE, et al.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 48
We came bearing socks, and the ungrateful buggers refuse to pull them up.
you go to war with the socks you have, not the socks you wish you had
punaise @
50
Well, no reason aside from Swopa’s immense charm, wit, and good looks.
Swopa @ 59
granted, we can’t compete with you there…
Damn, a lightning bolt just missed me by an inch. And on such a cloudless day…
Hi mods – I think the server just sent my 3:25 ish post back up thread to 2:51 PM.
My apologies to the server for the joke about the cloth.
Didn’t mean to oppress it with non-silicates’ fashion standards.
On the other hand, I hope the server won’t find me too PC.
Those last four words (including quotation marks) say everything you need to know about the rhetorical strategy of the administration (and the pro-war punditry) since about September 2003.
The bullet points in the Rummy memo itself are worth a read.
One of the “illustrative” proposals is a “draw-down” of military bases from 55 to 5 by July, 2007. I actually like it. Sounds pretty cut and run, non? Also touted: “Withdraw U.S. forces from vulnerable positions — cities, patrolling, etc.” “Cities, patrolling etc…”? Om, Baghdad’s a city, I think, etc… Don’t we have A LOT of troops there?
My point: if this is Rummy most likely doing CYA two days before he knows he’s going to get the hook… what’s Bush’s relationship to this memo? What does/did he think of some of these “illustrative” proposals? How did it factor into his decision to accept Rummy’s resignation? Did Bush see this memo? And when? Nov. 6?
I want the press all over Shrub on this one. He and Snowjob might have a lot of awkward ’splainin to do.
OT, but I saw this in the paper today and had to pass along another great example of the new Republican bipartisanship and cooperation:
GSA Chief Seeks to Cut Budget For Audits
Contract Oversight Would Be Reduced
Also:
Her spokesman claims that by cutting the budget of the IG’s without notifying them, she’s “trying to cut wasteful spending at the General Services Administration.”
john in sacramento @
53
We’re spending it there so we won’t have to account for it here.
OT – Bush may end drilling ban in Alaskan bay
But if we get holes in our socks, won’t we leak (memos that is)?
Put me down for that too. Hey Tony, it’s not “just a number.”
As the Iraqi’s pull up their socks, the Americans will pull down their pants.
What kind of insidious cretins are running the show anyhow?
-GSD
His nickname should now be changed to ‘Runny”.
Kinda like the syphlitic dick that he is, eh?
Swopa @ 63
It’s the Gooper mentality — they’re born with it and it infects every decision they ever make. They simply reframe the arguement so that they don’t have to admit that their point of view has crashed. They will quit rather than admit they’re beaten.
That’s also why they’ll continue to quit. For the next six months.
twolf1 @ 67
This is the Shrub’s idea of “bi-partisanhip.”
punaise @
50
Teddy got some too. Mostly just because they both happened to pick up the phone and call and I was probably hungry at the moment, which is quite nearly all the time. Mmmmm, food.
But yes, I do seem to be in the Bay Area with some frequency over some lefty business or another and I PROMISE in advance to set something up. Cross Kobe’s heart.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 68
I’m fixing a hole,
Where the rain gets in,
And stops my mind from wandering…..
GSD @ 70
We’ve been doing that for six years now.
ardyjay @ 71
WOW!
Runny works for me.
Do I think that the Bush motivation for trying to open Bristol Bay has to do with helping the American consumer, or helping to build up the Bush family oil portfolio? Hmmm. I wonder.
Jane Hamsher @ 74
he knows where to find us…
Former Reagan official thinks George W. Bush has gone plumb loopy.
-GSD
Oops. Here’s that link.
Cut and Rummy.
-GSD
Fiyero @ 64
It’s going sideways, not forwards or backwards. What this tells me is that troop losses were a political liability, therefore, pulling them back from places where they could get killed was suddenly of consequence–not for strategic or tactical reasons, but for political ones.
Second, this proposed consolidation of bases is a sign that they had and have no intention of ever removing troops from the country. Once the Iraqis figure that out, it’s too late. The troops are sitting in consolidated positions, waiting for mass attacks from a unified populace. The only advantage to that is that it at least offers the possibility of airlifting everyone out, rather than having them fighting their way back to Kuwait. (That strategy also pumps lots of additional money into KBR to expand a few bases after abandoning all the smaller bases KBR also built.)
TeddySanFran @
18
Yikes! As a lover of all things satirical and ironic, even I am wholly nonplussed by the eerie irony of that real estate transaction. You just can’t make this stuff up, can you?
the current occupant of Mt. Misery does not love The Company.
punaise @ 84
But, he dearly loves delivering sermons from the mount.
What’s going on here? This is the second high-level memo deliberately leaked this weak, from an Administration known for its secrecy and internal discipline. In both cases, someone on the inside physically hands a copy of the memo to the NYT, knowing that the Times will print it in full, plus analyze it. Who is doing this? Which side are they on? And what is their agenda?
We still don’t know (1) who leaked the Hadley memo (2) why no one in the Administration said a word about it (or threatened to jail the NYT for publishing classified information). Now someone in the Administration wants it known that Rumsfeld was seriously (well, in their world) thinking about significant changes in US policy before the election. This means that the Pentagon had already concluded that (1) nothing they were doing was working and (2) they had no idea what to do next — we see that from the wide variety of suggestions that Rumsfeld seems to be just throwing out there.
But then we have this:
Note that the list of undesireable options include several that are being prominently considered, and one suggested by the McCain/Lieberman hawks.
hmmm…kind of close, just two days after he tells the president his policies are frigged
any chance this is why rumsfeld was fired?
Damn the harpoons, full speed ahead. Big, beautiful barrels of crude.
Rumsfeld was terminated because Babs Bush Sr., (mom) came to dislike this man.
Hey ‘pups – we are now allowed to say Bush is worst.president.ever.
The WaPo sez so (h/t Aravois).
And our lead time is: how many years?
scarecrow @ 86
They also left off the strategy they’re going to actually go with: repeal the estate tax and appoint judges who respect original intent.
On my way back from Cape Cod I saw a mobile display that brought tears to my eyes. It was a small pick up truck with duct tape lettering on either side that said: My son, KIA in Iraq.
In the back of the capped pick up was a full size coffin draped with a flag with a plaque on the end honoring the dead solider.
God knows how much grief these Bush people have spilled on this planet, but it is too much for many to sanely bear.
-GSD
perris @ 87
Doubtful; he probably already knew he was leaving before he wrote this, and Bush probably never saw it. This is pure cowardly CYA, written when he knew he would never have to implement any of it. It’s the Republican way, and why they’re much better at carping from the outside than actually accomplishing anything when they win.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 78
I think it’s just pure spite — you won’t let me drill in ANWR, fine, I’ll drill in some other environmentally sensitive area just to screw with you!
I think it’s the same as one of the reasons they didn’t get Congressional approval for interrogations and wiretapping, even when Republicans on the Hill were offering to help — in addition to doing whatever the hell they want, it’s important to them to prove that they don’t need anyone else’s approval, and that no one can stop them.
January can’t come soon enough…
In the words of X-Patriate: “More and More Like A Civil War”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jordT1Kuc88
punaise @ 84
Not even Cathy?
I crave affixed responsibility. And I want accountability for all elected officials who voted to attack Iraq and have not seen and addressed publicly the error of that support. I want justice.
Redshift @ 94
Spite, is the mantra of all bully’s.
How about we drill for plutonioum in Crawford fucking Texas.
-GSD
SO RUMSFELD AGREES WITH MURTHA NOW does he?
what a friggin moron
it only takes this idiot about 9 months to realize what Murtha told him was correct…how many dead in that time?…how many?
HEY!!!…GENIUS!!!!;;;
umm…it’s not working AT ALL idiot, what the frig does “not well enough or fast enough” mean?…what are you, even more moronic then we thought?
[NEWS FLASH RUMSFELD]
IT’S A FAILURE, IT WAS A FAILURE FROM THE START, YOUR IDIOTIC “STRATEGY” HAS DESTABILIZED THE ENTIRE MIDDLE EAST AND BROUGHT RUIN TO THE ABILITY AND THE REPUTATION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and we will be paying the price of YOUR lunacy FOR GENERATIONS
now TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO THIS NATION, and STOP blaming Iraqis DAMN IT.
ok rumsfeld, this should be simple for even you to follow along;
this is a failure, there is nothing else to call it, “going minimalistic” doesn’t change the FACT that YOU have brought ruin to this country, and UNTIL you recognize the failure YOU WILL DOOM MORE AMERICANS, MORE IRAQI’S and make it yet MORE difficult to repair the damage YOU have caused
oh, I guess somebody sold you a program becuase you have FINALLY gotten it
now, apologize to Murtha for calling HIM cut and run, apologize to America for not heeding the advice of people who (unlike yourself) have a military clue, and start getting on board IN PUBLIC, GET OUR BOYS AND GIRLS HOME, and at least help begin the repair of this nation that must take place for the sake of our children and our grandchildren
scarecrow @ 86
that’s a typo: it should read: “Below the Lyin’“
I’m confused on the timeline. Did he write the memo before or after he found out he was being shitcanned? If he wrote it before, then it looks like he got shitcanned for popping Bush’s bubble. If he wrote it after, then it looks like he left a flaming bag of dogshit on the White House’s front porch when he was on his way out the door. Which is it?
Redshift @ 93
My theory is that he was told to write his CYA before the election. That way it was pre-dated in case of a lose. If they’d “won” he would not have been fired, and the memo would not have been “leaked.”
sanitas @ 103
I doubt it. Who is it you think told him to do this? Bush? Since when has he cared about anyone else in his Administration?
Frank Probst @ 104
OK, revised version:
He was told he’d be fired if they lost, and wrote it on his own accord.
I stand by the theory that he would have not been fired if they had “won.”
Patrick 4/4 @ 91
Well, those two options have at least as much chance of solving the Iraq problem as any they’re discussing. Maybe more?
New thread upstairs
I didn’t know that Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Halliburton had constructed 55 U.S. military bases in Iraq, did you?
The implications of this little tidbit of information contained in Rumsfeld’s leaked memo is tremendous…especially when you consider the cost to maintain 55 military bases in a war zone.
However, my main questions revolve around the sub-contractors that Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld hired to provide services (food, water, laundry, augmented-security, etc) for members of our military stationed at these bases.
55 military bases in Iraq.
Incoming Democrats in Congress had better hold intensive and comprehensive hearings into every aspect of the Iraq debacle…including a complete accounting into the Republican, crony-run corporations to whom Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld outsourced military functions, military support services and huge amounts of U.S. taxpayer money.
55 military bases in Iraq.
Incredible.
Jane
Thank you for continuing to cover rummy’s part in this.
He absolutely cannot be allowed just to ride off into the sunset with a fat pension and a gratuitous medal or 2.
The world is left with this horrendous problem, and he had a huge part in producing the quagmire we all now face.
I’m late jumping into this one, but just saw the news about Rummy’s henchman Cambone resigning and popped by to see what folks were saying because The Spy Who Billed Me is claiming that it will probably signal the end to the DoD’s secret spy unit that was apparently his baby.
The real interesting thing is that the spy unit has been doing covert ops in Iran. Wonder if this could mean Bush is quietly backing down there.
Withholding reconstruction funds for parts of Iraq?
That worked so well for the Weimar Republic, didn’t it?
go long, go deep, go minimalist… just go
Rumsfeld has given new meaning to the term “shock and awe” in the way he leaves the Bush administration. These words no doubt, will be an inspiration bonanza for future rhistorians to massage in reference to the most misguided public servant this nation ever was cursed with. To leave with an “about face” memo, seen as a “legacy life raft” thrown by him on the turbulent sea of misinformation which he so calculatingly stirred, is to lose whatever modicum of respect one would have for a person who was so tragically wrong.
Alongside “mission accomplished” Bush, our “shock and awe” defense secretary will forever be remembered with contempt.
“As you know, you have to go to bed with the Penis you have, not the Penis you want”.
Donald Rumsfeld
“In my view it is time for a major adjustment,”
shouted Rumsfeld, from the back of the trash truck as it drove away.
Donald Rumsfeld is almost as fat as Michael Moore.