Please people Don't bring Bill O'Reilly into the Gothamist fold . We don't need anymore Right Wing- Chicken shit, Bread- Flour dumping, Assholes in here ! We already got plenty of them here now . ; ')

Age: Was not alive for most of vietnam. Certainly not as old as you if you were in vietnam. My hat off to you if you were.

Degree: Graduated with degrees in biochemistry and national security studies. Working on another, grad degree right now while working at the same time.

Service: Army.

Other than listening to Rush & O'reilly, what's your background as such a mil expert:

Have worked at both Army and DoD, largely in medical field, though much has encompassed WMD defense. Also Army Transformation.

I do not "listen to Rush & O'reilly." I'm not even a republican. Not a fan of the administration.

But I think blaming rumsfeld is a cop-out, because he is not the guy on the ground, and he is not the Commander in Chief. And particularly since he has made such progress within the DoD, changing it rapidly to respond to new threats. It remains to be seen how well the transformation will go with the new guy.

But mainly I find it odd that people tend to think of the Secretary of Defense as some "super general." It just aint so.

oh there is no "chain of command." there just is a chain of blame!

just look at abu ghraib. the real real crooks, the higher ups, got away with it.

IvyLeagueGrunt you many good "text book" explanations for what appears to be going on. However, you seem to be a bit NAIVE for the most part. You don't seem to understand the chain of command when it comes to power and control.

Ivy League Grunt = Legacy with D average

Rummy knew it was time to go . His style of management wasn't sitting well with the American people . Bush is finally begaining to realize his "Fluff&Buff" Bullsh*t is losing it's appeal with people and had to make changes . There's an old saying , "When you fall, You fall hard, The easy part is staying on top "

Jeez, IvyLeagueGrunt, knock it off with the acronyms. We get your point. You obviously believe W & Rumi & Condi have nothing to do with the current death-mess. And what the F- is an Ivory Leage Grunt anyway?

Obviously the Field CO's did not start this clusterf-ck. State your age & service & I'll educate ya. It's quite obvious the current admin had ZERO familiarity with Caesar's Gallics, Mao's Guerilla Warfare, The Art of War or Mach's Discourses. Even the friggin' Iliad. I read all that shit in HS in the 70s. And knew this "war" was a bad idea before it even started.

And before you get all "partisan" on me, give it up. Been an unregistered Anarchist since the 80's.

And ABSOLUTELY no dis to the poor folks over there (mil & civ) and their families.

My greatest heartfelt feelings to all of them (& us) who have been affected by this misguided global f-uckup.

And to all of us who must suffer the hurt and humiliation as even indirect participants in this "thing".

And before you start anymo flaming, how 'bout you start with:

Age (were even alive during the Viet "Conflict")

Ivy League Creds (years, degree?)

Creds as a "Grunt". What's your Mil Svc?

Other than listening to Rush & O'reilly, what's your background as such a mil expert.

And how about you state your occupation & number of children? If you had a kid (I've got a pair of 9 year old twins) I feel you wouldn't make such an argument.

Before you flame off, how about you answer those questions first?

Then we can discuss

Further on under-armoring of troops

And you might ask, why didn't they just get the armor they needed before they went, or why when they found out that they needed it didn't they get it right away?

The answer to that is that we have a set amount of resources, for a military that was procured many years ago. It is the responsibility of commanders on the ground to use wisely the resources that they are given. That is why we give them officer commissions and pay for their education. To think.

Thankfully many do. And thankfully, many in the Pentagon do to. They realized that there has to be a way to get newly procured equipment to the ground quickly. To learn what critical deficiencies existed in the tables of organization and equipment (the list of what equipment is authorized to each unit), modify the TOE, contact the supply manufacturers, generate new supplies from the factory and ship it directly to those units that are most in need of it in a matter of weeks or months. So they created RFI. Keep in mind that they could not do this before. No military in the history of the world has had that ability. It is quite a logistical feat that they have been able to do this.

First, read my first post, it explains a lot.

First to the under-armoring of troops. The truth of the matter is that any time we enter a conflict, the military that we fight with is the military that built many years before. We try to do our best to predict what kind of conflict we will be fighting in the future. But it does not always work out. We took a military that was designed for force-on-force cold-war-type conflict into an asymmetric conflict. Every unit entering the conflict was equipped with the resources that unit was designed to be equipped with. When they got to the ground they found themselves being tasked by the COMBATANT COMMANDERS (not Rumsfeld, who is an administrator, not a General) to do missions they were not designed to handle. They were working with what they had. Some, for example, did not have the necessary armor on their Humvees. It was because of this fact, the necessity for these units to be able to adapt their resources to new and varied missions, that Rumsfeld created the RAPID FIELDING INITIATIVE. This initiative's purpose was to allow new equipment to be fielded quickly in response to the ever varying needs of the units on the ground. So the under-armoring of troops was a legacy of the Cold War Military that we went into Iraq with, not of Rumsfeld. The Rapid Fielding Initiative, however, is certainly a legacy of his.

Other massive changes that have been made include:

The complete and utter reorganization of the Army from Divisions to highly versatile and responsive Brigade Combat Teams. The full equipping and manning of Special Operations Command and charging them with all assymmetric warfare and counterterrorism planning and analysis. The full implementation of Network Centric Warfare, and the creation of the Global Information Grid - which, for example, give Battalion Commanders on the ground access to intelligence, information, and communications resources that used to be available only at the level of Army Divisions or Corps.

Or what about the creation of the Army's Battle Command Knowledge System, a "lesson's learned" resource which allows the Army to collect, analyze and incorporate the lessons from its operations and training into its doctrine and operating procedures in a matter of HOURS rather than months or years.

Or how about the planned creation of a Unified Medical Command which, as I mentioned, will crucial for the success of the vastly increased number of humanitarian and civil-relief missions that the military now takes part in (eg. Katrina, the Tsunami, Subsaharan Africa, Eastern Europe, &c).

These are just a few examples...

Exactly how has the military changed to respond to these new challenges? I guess I don't see what you're claiming reflected on the nightly news.

I also seem to recall our clueless president hailing Rumsfeld's decision to send in reduced troop levels, the logic being that with our advanced technologies, less troops could control more territory. Much to the consternation of various generals and military advisers. Ring any bells?

Oh, and one more thing - the under-armoring of troops...seems like a Rumsfeld legacy too.

Yeah, he sure accomplished a lot in 6 years. If by accomplish you mean putting a lot of young men and women's lives at risk with nary a second thought.

These threats have long existed. Not to say they haven't been exacerbated. But to say they did not exist 6 years ago is absolutely misinformed. One merely has to read the intelligence reports from the end of Clinton's term to realize this. HECK read the 9/11 Commission's report.

Just because no one listened to the intellegence just prior to the attacks does not mean that the threat wasn't there. The origin for these threats have been in the works for decades. And the military has had to change to respond to it. It is doing quite remarkably, actually, considering its size and complexity.

ivyleague grunt,

you mean ASSymetrical threats that rumsfeld, wolfowitz, perlman, bush, cheney, et al imagined and then created once they could not help themselves and let their wet dream cum true? that is absolutely ridiculous. everyone hates us BECAUSE of all our stupid wars.

most, if not all those threats did not even exist 6 years ago!!!!!

sheesh.

I wont knock the decision to get rid of Rummy, and I'm no fan of the administration but...

People seem to be confused about what Rumsfeld's job actually is and what the Pentagon actually does. People are blaming Rumsfeld for problems running the war, but operations in Iraq aren't run by Rumsfeld. They aren't even run by the Pentagon! They are run by CENTCOM in Tampa, FL.

Since the reorganization in the early 1990s, combat operations are run through the Unified Combatand Commands, by a 4 star general or admiral who is ultimately responsible for the combat operations in his or her geographical area and reports directly to the Commander In Chief. The SECDEF, at most, acts as an intermediary or an observing authority. Any choices on troops force levels, for example, are determined by the commanders on the ground based on what is needed for the mission. The Pentagon raises and equips the military for the future. The Unified Combatant Commands run the wars at present.

While there have been plenty of planning and operational SNAFUs, people seem to forget the good things Rumsfeld has done. He is personally responsible for what has essentially been a revolution in the affairs of the Department of Defense - DoD Transformation - which will allow the US Military to do what it wasn't originally designed to do: respond to terrorism. The reorganization of Army Divisions into highly responsive Brigade Combat Teams, for example, or the reorganization or creation of new commands such as Special Operations Command and the up-and-coming United States Unified Medical Command (which is crucial for the success of vastly increased numbers of humanitarian and civil-relief missions that the military takes part in). He is also responsible for the new rapid fielding initiative, which allows new equipment to be tested on the ground and gets needed equipment (eg. armor) where it needs to as soon as it is battle ready. Before him, the military DID NOT HAVE THAT CAPABILITY.

It is because of him that the Armed Forces are positioned to respond to a multitude of asymmetric threats that they did not have the capability to defend against only 6 years ago. Just remember that as you cheer his resignation.

Tom, I meant with regard to voting.

I wonder if there is a study on what % of registered Dems vote straight down the party ticket vs. the % of registered Reps that do.

Kill the Republicans !!

Kill, Kill, get em…!

Queue the mob with torches and pitchforks…..

Gridlock? Bring it on!

If only we had had gridlock for the past six years. Then there might not have been a terrible war, mounting deficits, out of control spending, the suspension of habeas corpus.

Gridlock in the face of reckless spending and out of control leadership is a good thing.

Don't be afraid of a Senate and House that are completely at odds with the White House. A gridlocked Congress is better than one with a rubber stamp.

"Liberals" are far less party- and label-oriented than Republicans.

Riiight, did you type that with a straight face. They certainly don't throw around Neocon or Fascist with reckless abandon.

Also, Newsflash folks. If you live in New York City, the Democratic party probably doesn't consider you middle class.

This is a wonderful day!

So when does the war crimes trial start? I hope they sell tickets, I wouldn't miss that for the world.

I wish, but it'll never happen.

Now that Bush's blank check is gone, I do hope that something is done about the bogus rationale that caused us to go to war in Iraq. It seems disloyal to the 3,000+ servicemen and women who've died over there to not do so.

stocks r us Said:

"And yes, there will be gridlock. Pelosi is drunk on power and the idea that she'll work across party lines is laughable. The House may pass bills but they'll have a tough time reconciling them with the Senate. Plus there is the threat of veto. I'd say it looks a lot like the Clinton years when almost nothing of any consequence was done. And the stock market does indeed like when no new regulations are passed.

Both parties are really just going to wait it out until January 2009 to try anything major on the legislative front."

This isn't a Personal attack so do try not to go Over board.

Your expecting her and the Democrats to be the Radical Left just like the GOP has been the Radical Right for at least 6 years. I'd bet that She and the Democrats will be the Moderates that the Public seems to want.

As for the Stock Market, it's hardly the economic indicator it once was. Traders may be making the big bucks, but it hardly trickles down to the rest of the Economy any more.