Top general calls for Rumsfeld’s resignation

A RECENTLY retired two-star general who just a year ago commanded a US Army division in Iraq has joined a small but growing list of former senior officers to call on US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign.

“I believe we need a fresh start in the Pentagon. We need a leader who understands teamwork, a leader who knows how to build teams, a leader that does it without intimidation,” Major General John Batiste, who commanded the Germany-based 1st Infantry Division in Iraq, said.

In recent weeks, retired Marine Corps Lieutenant General Gregory Newbold, Army Major General Paul Eaton and Marine Corps General Anthony Zinni all spoke out against Mr Rumsfeld. This comes as opinion polls show eroding public support for the three-year-old war in which about 2360 US troops have died.

“You know, it speaks volumes that guys like me are speaking out from retirement about the leadership climate in the Department of Defence,” Gen. Batiste said.

“But when decisions are made without taking into account sound military recommendations, sound military decision making, sound planning, then we’re bound to make mistakes.”

Gen. Batiste, a West Point graduate who also served during the previous Gulf War, retired from the Army on November 1, 2005. While in Iraq, his division, nicknamed the Big Red One, was based in Tikrit, and it wrapped up a yearlong deployment in May 2005.

Critics have accused Mr Rumsfeld of bullying senior military officers and disregarding their views. They often cite how Mr Rumsfeld dismissed then-Army Chief of Staff General Eric Shinseki’s opinion a month before the 2003 invasion that occupying Iraq could require “several hundred thousand troops,” not the smaller force Mr Rumsfeld would send.
Many experts believe that the chaos that ensued and the insurgency that emerged just months later vindicated Gen. Shinseki’s view.

Gen. Batiste said “we’ve got the best military in the world, hands down, period.” He did not say whether he felt the war was winnable.

“Whether we agree or not with the war in Iraq, we are where we are, and we must succeed in this endeavour. Failure is frankly not an option,” Gen. Batiste said.

Will Dunham