[fintstone]

Originally posted by jyl
...And removing him the day after the election doesn't seem like a political ploy and make the President look weaker? Get real.
...

No, it was brilliant and appears to be working well.

Originally posted by jyl
...To those who say they were negative on Rumsfeld but withheld their criticism for some reason - why didn't you speak up? Afraid to speak your mind? Value loyalty over competence? Or are you just jumping on the bandwagon on the morning after?
...

Actually, I think Rumsfeld was great. He was just give a problem that was not solvable with the tools he was given.

Originally posted by jyl
...To those who say the US won't support big spending on the military - look at the military spending over the past several years. How can it not be called "big"? The country is willing to spend on, and support, the military....

Spending has been relatively low by the only reasonable measure...as a percentage of GDP.

Originally posted by jyl
...To those who say Rumsfeld was doing the right thing by making the military smaller and more lethal - theory is fine, but results are what count. When the Sec'y of Defense is so set on small/lethal that he won't commit the necessary mass of troops to do the job, that's a failure....

Rumsfeld did not...and could not make the military either larger or smaller. Where do you get this stuff?

Originally posted by jyl
..I've said for a long time (here) that we should greatly increase the number of US troops in Iraq, rather than try to pull US troops out. But in everything there is a window of opportunity; let it pass, and your options get bad. I am not sure that window remains open.

The only problem is that you have never told us where the troops would come from. We already have the maximum that Congress will allow. You have decried military spending...what would we pay them with?...do you think the draft should be reinstated?