The Secretary’s Defense

So let me get this straight — Rumsfeld finally has to answer for at least some of the incompetence he’s displayed as Secretary of Defense, and this is his excuse?

“Now settle down, settle down. Hell, I’m an old man, and it’s early in the morning. I’m just gathering my thoughts here.”

In other words, he’s too old to do his job, but we should only consider that when he’s answering for his screw-ups, and not when he’s making them in the first place.

I find it particularly amusing that sources say that Rumsfeld’s not planning to stick around for the entire four-year turn, but only until conditions in Iraq improve. As one Defense Department official put it, “As soon as things turn up, the moment the Green Zone is secured, he’s out of there.”

News flash, Rummy — at this rate, that’s going to take one hell of a lot longer than four years.