Rumsfeld Resigns
[Update: More on Robert Gates here, and some clues to how he thinks here and .]
It was probably inevitable, and if it might have been the only way to preserve any kind of bipartisan consensus on Iraq. I agree with Robert’s analysis, as it concerns Korea policy. Rumsfeld has managed the downsizing of the alliance creditably, confronting, rather than denying, the effect of the political trends there. Much of what Rumsfeld did right in Korea is owed to the very able assistance of Richard Lawless. If Lawless stays, and Gates listens to him, then the process of breaking Gates in may be an easier one. If not, he may continue to approach Korea from a 1985 perspective. Hope he’s been keeping up with the news, but nothing I’ve heard about Gates gives me much comfort.
As I said elsewhere, ultimately Rumsfeld fell because the work in Iraq was not sucessful enough or fast enough to keep enough support. This makes him different from the person I want to parallel his resignation with — which is Newt Gingrich.
Because Gingrich and Rumsfeld (and Wolfiwitz and Rove) are the same in how they were hunted from day one because of who they are — republicans with brains – and sucessful. That scares the shit out of dedicated dems and people like college profs who I have heard too often before.
They start bringing out references to Nazis and fascists and such, and whenever you hear that, you can be sure they have run across an opponent they can’t label a Reagan or Quayle or Trent Lott — someone they feel comfortable with, as they attack them nonetheless, because they feel intellectual superior to them. No. When they come across a conservative they can’t label a dullard – they turn evangelical on them and start throwing around the holy water and warning everyone to keep the kids away from them because the people are evil incarnate.
I just hope he stays the course…at least when it comes to getting us the Hell out of Korea and closer with Japan.