Rumsfeld and Cheney vow that America will stay on the offensive...in Iraq

[ProSense]

In Farewell, Rumsfeld Warns Weakness Is ‘Provocative’

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld at a Pentagon ceremony that was attended by President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

By JIM RUTENBERG
Published: December 16, 2006

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 — Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld bade farewell to the Pentagon on Friday with a combative valedictory speech in which he warned against hoping for “graceful exits” from Iraq and said it would be wrong to regard the lack of new attacks on American soil as a sign that the nation is safe from terrorism.

“Today, it should be clear that not only is weakness provocative,” Mr. Rumsfeld said, standing at a lectern with President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney at his side, “but the perception of weakness on our part can be provocative as well.”

It was a clear parting shot at those considering a withdrawal from war that would define his legacy and perhaps that of the president.

“A conclusion by our enemies that the United States lacks the will or the resolve to carry out missions that demand sacrifice and demand patience is every bit as dangerous as an imbalance of conventional military power,” Mr. Rumsfeld said in a buoyant but sometimes emotional speech.

Snip...

“In this hour of transition every member of our military, and every person at the Pentagon, can be certain that America will stay on the offensive,” Mr. Cheney said. “We will stay in the fight until this threat is defeated and our children and grandchildren can live in a safer world.”

more...

Funny, how some former withdrawal advocates are adjusting their positions, some utterly Rumsfeldian, to accommodate Bush's criminal stubborness.

Talking Points lays out the myths vs. realities, which all deal with this stubborness. The most important, other than the fact that Iraq is mired in civil war and U.S. troop presence is a security impediment, being is this:

Myth: Congessional hearings will build public support for withdrawal from Iraq.

Reality: It is difficult to imagine public sentiment against the war being any higher than it is right now. In this week's NBC/WSJ poll, 71 percent of respondents disapproved of the President's handling of Iraq. As soon as congressional hearings begin, the President is likely to get some bump in the polls because it allows him to cast the debate in familiar political terms. The President versus congressional Democrats is a much better matchup for the White House than the President versus the reality of his disastrous policies. Congressional hearings are also messy, boring, and diffuse--an important part of good governance, but not especially effective at rallying public support one way or another, at least in the short-term.

[jobycom]

1. Geeze, would he just go already? "Weakness is provocative?" So then...

what is incompetence? Liberating? It liberated Rumsfeld from his job. And failure must be illuminating, because suddenly this idiot thinks he's a sage.

[necso]

2. "Ignorance is strength." /nt

[Cassandra]

3. I wish that soldier was escorting Rummy to the brig!

And stupidity is also provocative.

[The Count]

4. Sometimes JMM is off his rocker - too much strategery will do that

So, what? We shouldn't investigate the lies to the war for fear W gets a bump?
Polls are all BS, it's stopping the killing that matters!
It was treating a war like "politics as usual" that got so many demicrats in the moral morass they are today.
Enough with the talking points already!

[LynnTheDem]

5. Illegal "supreme crime" hitleresque war of aggression; yeah that's damn

offensive.