Four Military Newspapers Call for Rumsfeld's Resignation

The four leading military newspapers will publish a joint editorial on Monday calling for Donald Rumsfeld's resignation. The Army Times, Marine Corps Times, Air Force Times, and Navy Times gave the heads-up to the media on Friday.

It's not just Rumsfeld's utter incompetence that has pushed the military press over the edge just four days before the election. It's also the Bush administration's refusal to accept responsibility for the failures that have happened under Rumsfeld's management, and Pres. Bush's continuing blind support for him. Kevin Drum writes:

As it happens, the Army Times has been critical of Donald Rumsfeld for some time now. But apparently George Bush's fervent support last week for Rumsfeld's plainly failed leadership has driven them over the edge, and along with their colleagues at the Navy Times, Air Force Times and Marine Corps Times they've released an editorial calling for his resignation, come what may on Tuesday. ...

War cheerleaders who argue that "of course [the editorial] is about the election" are engaging in the same willful inability to face reality and the same refusal to be held accountable for lethal mistakes that convinced the editors of the military papers they had to speak up now and let the chips fall where they may. Those editors are the ones who are acting in the best interests of their country and the men and women fighting and dying in Iraq and Afghanistan. The people who cannot stop being apologists for irresponsible, incompetent, morally indefensible policies are the blind partisans who care more about Republicans keeping control of Congress than about what's best for the military and for Americans in general.

The complete editorial is online now.