Dru Clements writing on the Beaufort Gazette blog:
A recent letter stated that the “liberal media” hates Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. The secretary’s strongest, most scathing critics come from a long list of military top brass that reads likes a “Who’s Who” of individuals who are neither liberal nor Republican bashers but are people who wore a uniform and fought in wars.
Some of these people served in presidential administrations, such as retired Lt. Gen. Brent Scowcroft, National Security Adviser to President George H.W. Bush; retired Gen. William E. Odom, former head of the National Security Agency during the Reagan Administration; James Webb, decorated Vietnam veteran and Reagan administration secretary of the Navy; and retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni, former commander of the U.S. Central Command and special envoy to the Middle East under the current president until he resigned in disgust.
When people with these kinds of credentials speak out against the conduct of the war, they are raising critical questions that go directly and unequivocally to the competency of President Bush, his advisers and in particular Secretary Rumsfeld (most of whom avoided military service).
I do not know Mr. Clements, but I do know Beaufort, SC is home to two Marine Corps bases. With Parris Island in your back yard, “soft on defense” is not exactly a popular position.
Veterans on the Hill like Rep. Murtha (PA Dem), Senators John Kerry (MA Dem) and Chuck Hagel (NE Rep) have all been vocal in their opposition to the President’s “handling” of the war in Iraq. I hope more Republicans speak out. This is bigger than party affiliation. We’ve deployed a small city of Americans to Iraq and we plan to be a “stabilizing force” in the region for 50 years, or until the oil runs out.
Every American has the right to say, “I reject war.” Or the mishandling of war, whatever their position is. My position is we need to move rapidly to energy independence which means a massive shift to renewable energy from sun, wind and water. There’s a ton to do and money to be made. For this cause, I believe we can all just get along.