It's not like the occupation of Iraq is as bloody as Vietnam. I mean, signing the condolence letters would have been a full-time job for Robert McNamara.
But you can't take time out of your schedule to sign the letters going out to the loved ones of the 1,200+ soldiers who've given their lives for a mistake, nay, your mistake?
Granted, that would have meant signing 4-5 letters every day for the last 2+years. How long would that take, 25, maybe 30 seconds at the most?
And don't give me any lame excuses about efficiency. You know as well as we do that your excuse is horseshit.
Over the weekend, Mr. Rumsfeld's critics gained some new ammunition with the disclosure that the defense secretary had not personally been signing condolence letters to the families of soldiers killed in Iraq.So who stood up to crassly defend you, Mr Rumsfeld? None other than Senator Saxby Chambliss, who ran a shameful campaign against triple amputee and Vietnam veteran Max Cleland, accusing him of not being "patriotic."
In a statement first issued to the military newspaper Stars and Stripes, Mr. Rumsfeld said he would now begin signing the letters himself. A Defense Department official said Sunday that Mr. Rumsfeld had used an automated signing machine, a tool commonly used by public officials, but only to ensure that families received their letters quickly. But the outcry has fueled the complaints of those who say the blunt-talking defense secretary is insensitive to soldiers and their families.
"This secretary is very sensitive to the needs of the military," Senator Saxby Chambliss, Republican of Georgia, told CBS News in defending Mr. Rumsfeld. "He seems insensitive when he makes comments. And that seems to be what gets him in trouble."
