Donald Rumsfeld Has to Go?

Now that the Democrats control the House and possibly the Senate, will getting rid of Rumsfeld be priority number one?

While Democrats have been demanding a new secretary of defense for a long time, Republicans — worried about re-election as well as the course of the war — began to join the outcry this fall. Some made it part of their campaign mantras. Many others have been complaining in quiet about Mr. Rumsfeld’s continued job security. Even people who are strong supporters of the continued presence of American troops in Iraq acknowledge that there needs to be a change.

It’s possible that no one could have turned the invasion into a success, given the fissures in Iraqi society that the fall of Saddam Hussein have exposed. But we will never know, since the shortage of American troops and the lack of postwar planning made disaster inevitable. Mr. Rumsfeld deserves to go simply because he has failed at his job. Denying that reality is presumably why the president is so bent on keeping him.

Stay tuned...