War on the Cheap

A minor scuffle between the White House and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (part of the American Axis of Evil which also included Feith, Wolfowitz, Addington, Cheney and Bush) over requests for additional troops in Afghanistan during Rumsfeld's tenure. Rumsfeld asserts that he was "not aware of a single request of that nature between 2001 and 2006," and then tries to hang a "disservice to the truth" banner around Obama's neck.

Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Michael Mullen testified before a House committee Wednesday that Gen. David McKiernan, who led U.S. troops in Afghanistan from 2008 to this year, had asked for more troops but was turned down because those troops "were pushed to Iraq. That was the priority of [then] President [George W. Bush]."

It has been shown and documented many times over the years that Rumsfeld ran the Pentagon like a corporation on an austerity plan. He tried to automate and leverage technology to avoid a reliance of manpower and troops on the ground. On top of that, we all know that he had no plan to secure the peace in Iraq once Saddam was toppled, and we all see what a mess he left behind in Afghanistan. All shit for Obama to clean up now.

But White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs had the line of the day when responding to a reporter's question about Rumsfeld's comments. Paraphrasing earlier comments by Rumsfeld during the Iraq War, Gibbs responded, "You go to war with the Defense Secretary you have."

Video here.