Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH): Don’t blame Rummy. It was the friggin’ soldiers who screwed up.
This afternoon on Blitzer’s Situation Room, Wolf reads John Boehner a list of Republicans criticizing or calling for the resignation of Don Rumsfeld. And Boehner responds …
BOEHNER: Wolf, I understand that, but let’s not blame what’s happening in Iraq on Rumsfeld.
BLITZER: But he’s in charge of the military.
BOEHNER: But the fact is, the generals on the ground are in charge, and he works closely with them and the president. We’ve seen this run up in violence as we get closer to the election, as we get closer to Ramadan, same thing we’ve seen over the last couple of years.
It’s bad enough Boehner wants to place blame on the soldiers in the field. But Boehner has a very short memory. Remember, the whole Rummy cult that held Washington in its thrall only a few years ago was based on the idea that he didn’t just take the stodgy generals’ word for it. Their ideas were outmoded. And the men were stuck in their ways. It took Rummy to knock their heads together and tell them what was what.
So really, Rumsfeld is probably a lot more responsible for this disaster than almost any other Sec Def has been for anything else, because he’s insisted on such a level of micromanagement and such a complete disregard for the professional advice of his generals.
But for John Boehner, don’t forget the central mission: defend Rummy and the president at all costs. Don’t cut and run.
Late Update: And now the video …
