Bush Defeats Rumsfeld, Mesopotamia Still Messy
November 8th, 2006On October first, I wrote,
The more I read of the new Woodward book, State of Denial, the more apparent it becomes to me that Donald Rumsfeld will finally lose his job. Either the day after the Midterm Elections, or in January. That’s how George Walker works. He won’t want to give anything up to the Defeatocrats before the Elections, but I reckon Rumsfeld’s done for.
A few times I’ve waivered slightly, wondering if Bush just might really be dumb enough to allow Rumsfeld’s further presence at the Department of Defense, but I always believed that the writing was on the wall and I do believe myself a Boy who can read the President, whoever it may be. Needless to say, Rumsfeld has stepped down, and now it’s up to a new man to try and wipe Baghdad clean, something that I think is all too possible. Wars don’t end overnight and however dramatic losses may be (and Iraq’s aren’t that bad, in perspective) there is always prospect for Victory. If this new man means that George Bush is serious about changing course in Iraq (which it seems he is, in a roundabout, Bushian way, as he said today, to that same question, “Well, there’s certainly going to be new leadership at the Pentagon”) then that is nothing but a good thing.
The President’s committment, and vision, remains dubious, however. Bush has defeated Rumsfeld; now can he defeat their collective mistakes of the last four years? This is the sort of change that gives old supporters of the War new hope — cautious, tempered hope, but hope all the same.