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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Grainne who wrote (91332)	12/14/2004 12:35:05 PM
From: Grainne	Respond to of 108807

Rumsfeld under fire for handing of Iraq McCain has ‘no confidence’; Schwarzkopf expresses angerMSNBC staff and news service reports Updated: 11:29 a.m. ET Dec. 14, 2004Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has come under attack from two well-known Republican figures with military experience over his handling of the Iraq war. In separate interviews, U.S. Sen. John McCain said he has “no confidence” in Rumsfeld, citing his handling of the war in Iraq and the failure to send more troops, while retired Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf said the defense secretary seemed to be passing the buck when quizzed last week about the armor supply for troops on the ground. McCain, speaking to The Associated Press in an hourlong interview on Monday, said his comments were not a call for Rumsfeld’s resignation, explaining that President Bush “can have the team that he wants around him.” Asked about his confidence in the secretary’s leadership, McCain recalled fielding a similar question a couple weeks ago. “I said no. My answer is still no. No confidence,” McCain said. He estimated an additional 80,000 Army personnel and 20,000 to 30,000 more Marines would be needed to secure Iraq. “I have strenuously argued for larger troop numbers in Iraq, including the right kind of troops — linguists, special forces, civil affairs, etc.,” said McCain, R-Ariz. “There are very strong differences of opinion between myself and Secretary Rumsfeld on that issue.” When asked if Rumsfeld was a liability to the Bush administration, McCain responded: “The president can decide that, not me.” Oversight of military operations McCain, a decorated Navy veteran and former Vietnam prisoner of war, is a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which has oversight of military operations and considerable influence over the Pentagon budget. If Senate Republicans maintain their majority two years from now, McCain would be in line to become the committee’s chairman, something he said he’d weigh when considering whether to run for president again. “In a couple of years I might give it some consideration, but not right now,” he said of a 2008 presidential bid. Dec. 13: Retired Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf talks to Chris Matthews of "Hardball" about the war in Iraq, a year after the capture of Saddam Hussein. Pentagon spokesman Larry Di Rita said McCain “has frequently expressed his views regarding troop levels in Iraq, and he is an important member” of the committee. Rumsfeld has “relied upon the judgment of the military commanders to determine what force levels are appropriate for the situation at hand,” Di Rita said. Despite the troop levels, McCain believes military morale remains high, but he acknowledged that involuntary extensions of tours of duty were frustrating to soldiers. He said Iraq must have a functioning independent government before U.S. troops leave. “I believe we’ll be in Iraq militarily for many years, which would not be a problem to the American people,” he said. “I think what is not acceptable to the American people is an increasing flow of dead and wounded.” Hardball answers Schwarzkopf, interviewed on MSNBC-TV's "Hardball" program, chided Rumsfeld for his reply to a soldier in Kuwait over the lack of armor on many military vehicles used in Iraq. "I was very, very disappointed — no let me put it stronger — I was angry by the words of the secretary of defense when he laid it all on the Army, as if he, as secretary of defense, didn’t have anything to do with the Army and the Army was over there doing it themselves, screwing up,” he said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. g.msn.com