Rummy, we hardly knew ye

By Heraclitus

Actually, we knew you plenty, and what we knew was pretty bad. Rumsfeld is apparently stepping down as Secretary of Defense, at the request of the President, despite Bush's pledges just last week that Rumsfeld would remain in office as long as he does. So, give Bush and Rove credit for understanding that the election was, in large measure, a referendum on the conduct of the Iraq War (although there were, quite seriously, so many reasons to vote against the Republicans). And they also realized that firing Rumsfeld before the election would be too little too late for their critics, and would only further sap their support among the base. Bush, of course, has nominated another long-time family friend and "trusted ally," Robert Gates, to replace Rumsfeld. In other words, no one who will try to punch a hole in the echo chamber (although Daniel Drezner expects him to bring some of that old-timey competence to the job).

Of course, Rumsfeld's ass should have been canned, and canned with extreme prejudice, after the Abu Ghraib story broke. He should have been reprimanded after his obnoxiously self-satisfied response to the looting in Baghdad in the days after the US invasion. I would like to think that Rumsfeld is being fired for one, some, or all of the many good reasons for doing so. But, with everything we know about how the Bush administration has operated, and everything we know about Rumsfeld's performance and the total lack of criticism or repercussions from within the GOP, I can reach only one conclusion. This isn't about winning in Iraq. It's about politics.