Rumsfeld resigns

DMC

CNN tv reporting...

is_that_so

There is a God so. These last two days have been good for the world.

DMC

AP: WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, a key target of Iraq war critics, is stepping down, Republican officials said on Wednesday.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15622266/

is_that_so

on BBC News now

bonkey

It was more or less a given, once the Dems took either of the Houses. Having said that, it happened a bit sooner than I expected.

flogen

Wowza.... I knew it was coming, but I thought the administration wouldn't have given the Dems the satisfaction of getting rid of him after the election, thought they'd hold him until the new year and get him to resign on "personal" grounds...

Good riddance, let's hope his successor will have the ability to change things, although it will take time.

lostexpectation

will his replacment be any better ?

he should have been fired after abu gharib??


can he still be called to acount, investigated to the same degree?

Robert Gates former cia director is replacement, wonder what he is like

cooker3

I believe he offered to resign twice before but Bush refused it both times.
I guess last nights results changed his mind.

flogen

lostexpectation wrote:

will his replacment be any better ?

he should have been fired after abu gharib??


can he still be caleld to acount, investigated to the same degree?

Good point, if he can be investigated it's an easy target for the Dems; they can go for him without being blamed for damaging the administration and their progress.

A Dub in Glasgo

I will only applaud when the headline reads, 'Rumsfeld jailed'

cooker3

A Dub in Glasgo wrote:

I will only applaud when the headline reads, 'Rumsfeld jailed'

lol, you will be waiting for a while.

flogen

cooker3 wrote:

I believe he offered to resign twice before but Bush refused it both times.
I guess last nights results changed his mind.

I think he offered to step down before the 2004 election; not sure when else.

constitutionus

gotta give the yanks one thing, theyre quick. if this was in ireland he'd brass neck it out till he was fired. nice to see the senate is now hanging on virginia's result too. hopefully this means america getting back to the country it used to be.

GuanYin

The major player in anti-stem cell research falls.

Happy Days!

lostexpectation

flogen wrote:

Good point, if he can be investigated it's an easy target for the Dems; they can go for him without being blamed for damaging the administration and their progress.

I was actually saying it would be harder to pin down Rumsfeld and changes if he isn't in a position any more.

Gates is part of the Baker Iraq Study Group, I wonder if he was the person Daddy bush was trying to get as replacement.

I think the problem now is with the dems we continue to get US hegemony just last blatently

The ISG is the mechanism for a course correction that has the agreement of both senior Republicans and Democrats and seeks to remove Iraq from political debate. Its co-chair is James Baker III, a prominent member of the Reagan administration and the secretary of state under President Bush’s father. In the September edition of the Washington Monthly, sources told journalist Robert Dreyfuss that “Baker is primarily motivated by his desire to avoid a war at home—that things will fall apart not on the battlefield but at home. So he wants a ceasefire in American politics”.

Baker’s central involvement has provided reassurance to the White House that a Congress-backed review of Iraq policy would seek to assist, not threaten, the administration.

bonkey

Watching the Bush press-conference at the moment.

He's clearly not a happy camper, and the press seem to have suddenly recovered some of their teeth. Not all, but some.

mike65

Not a suprise really, gives Bush the chance to forge cross-party consensus with the James Baker report due by end of year.

Oops lostexpectation beat me to it!

Mike.

constitutionus

bonkey wrote:

Watching the Bush press-conference at the moment.

He's clearly not a happy camper, and the press seem to have suddenly recovered some of their teeth. Not all, but some.

just finished watching that on sky news myself. yeah ,he's not happy at all. makes a change to see him being grilled for once and he's practically snapping out journalists names when changing subjects. should be fun times ahead at these confrences in future

Did you notice how a few times,he ran off into a 5 minute monologue as if the secret radio pumping his ear with stuff to say was getting better reception.

nacho libre

lostexpectation wrote:

I think the problem now is with the dems we continue to get US hegemony just last blatently

yes. The differences between the two are merely cosmetic. Many People on both sides of the Atlantic will now believe U.S Foreign policy will change fundamentally.

mr_disc

He did offer his resignation to Bush twice before, but they wanted him to stay ( for some reason ).

If you watch him talking next time he has a funny expression on his face ... like he is looking for his keys or something !

Manic Moran

A comment about horses and stable doors comes to mind.

NTM

jank

Rove will be next, maybe even the Dick Cheney after

cooker3

jank wrote:

Rove will be next, maybe even the Dick Cheney after

Not a chance in hell will rove or cheney go.

Something I read today which I found amusing is that Rumsfeld is youngest and oldest man to be secretary of defence, impressive

bug

The major player in anti-stem cell research falls.

Happy Days!

Its fab.
what c.v.'s are we looking at for his replacement?

can anyone project when the recount for the virginia seat in senate will be done?

jank

cooker3 wrote:

Not a chance in hell will rove or cheney go.

Something I read today which I found amusing is that Rumsfeld is youngest and oldest man to be secretary of defence, impressive

I dont know about that. Even republicans seem to want these 2 to go so that there is a clean slate for 2008. They all want to converge to the centre and ahaving those 2 in power will not endeer them to the Dems. Myself would doubt if cheney goes but rove will be a goner by the new year.

Hobbes

tbh Rumsfeld pissed off a lot of high ranking military by not allowing the generals to do thier jobs then blaming them on the failures. My guess is the Democrats where already talking to the military on "whats the best solution for Iraq" and he was the first choice.

jank wrote:

Rove will be next, maybe even the Dick Cheney after

I believe for Rove it has to be a sold silver stake blessed by 20 liberal virgins and straight through the heart. So no luck there.

cooker3

jank wrote:

I dont know about that. Even republicans seem to want these 2 to go so that there is a clean slate for 2008. They all want to converge to the centre and ahaving those 2 in power will not endeer them to the Dems. Myself would doubt if cheney goes but rove will be a goner by the new year.

You don't get rid of a vice president unless something major happens and I mean watergate type major, the only way Cheney goes is if his health gets the best of him, as for Rove well he is not an elected official, nor is he is the cabinet, he is just Bushes advisor, Bush will never ever get rid of him unless he absolutely has to which he doesn't.

Frederico

I was flicking between BBC, ITV, SKY etc last night.. I could see that the journalists were absolutely ecstatic that Rumsfeld was gone.. they all had their little montages ready, and they really did make him out to be a crazy old right wing man whos completely lost touch with reality..

This is the first good news after 5 years of frustration.. aahhh..

sovtek

A Dub in Glasgo wrote:

I will only applaud when the headline reads, 'Rumsfeld jailed'

I will too but wont be content till the whole cabal is tried and convicted.

Kaylee

lostexpectation wrote:

will his replacment be any better ?

According to Robert Hodierne (Army Times Publishing company) on Morning Ireland this morning, Robert Gates is Rumsfeld in a different suit - and a close personal friend of the Bush family.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2006/1109/morningireland.html