thedrifter
04-26-06, 12:34 PM
April 26, 2006
Senate won’t hear from retired generals
By Rick Maze
Times staff writer
The Senate Armed Services Committee will not hold a hearing to listen to retired general officers complain about Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Committee chairman Sen. John Warner, R-Va., said the committee does not have time. And he doesn’t really think it is necessary.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., had asked Warner to schedule a public hearing where retired flag and general officers could express their views about Rumsfeld and the Bush administration. Her request came after six retired general went public with criticism of Rumsfeld’s leadership style and decisions about military operations in Iraq.
Warner said in a statement issued Tuesday night that he consulted with other committee members before making the decision.
The hearing envisioned by Clinton would have required a lot of preparation and a lot of witnesses to get a balanced view, Warner said. The committee begins writing its version of the 2007 defense authorization bill next week, which will take three or four days. Senate leaders are pressing the committee to work quickly so the bill can be taken up and passed before Memorial Day.
Writing and passing the bill is “a prodigious task,” Warner said.
Warner said retired generals have free speech rights to say what they think, but the president has the right to select his own cabinet.
“As part of this debate, President Bush has, unequivocally, expressed his continuing support for Secretary Rumsfeld, and exercised his right to retain him in the cabinet,” Warner said. “As I have consistently stated, I support the President’s right to make this decision.”
Ellie
Senate won’t hear from retired generals
By Rick Maze
Times staff writer
The Senate Armed Services Committee will not hold a hearing to listen to retired general officers complain about Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Committee chairman Sen. John Warner, R-Va., said the committee does not have time. And he doesn’t really think it is necessary.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., had asked Warner to schedule a public hearing where retired flag and general officers could express their views about Rumsfeld and the Bush administration. Her request came after six retired general went public with criticism of Rumsfeld’s leadership style and decisions about military operations in Iraq.
Warner said in a statement issued Tuesday night that he consulted with other committee members before making the decision.
The hearing envisioned by Clinton would have required a lot of preparation and a lot of witnesses to get a balanced view, Warner said. The committee begins writing its version of the 2007 defense authorization bill next week, which will take three or four days. Senate leaders are pressing the committee to work quickly so the bill can be taken up and passed before Memorial Day.
Writing and passing the bill is “a prodigious task,” Warner said.
Warner said retired generals have free speech rights to say what they think, but the president has the right to select his own cabinet.
“As part of this debate, President Bush has, unequivocally, expressed his continuing support for Secretary Rumsfeld, and exercised his right to retain him in the cabinet,” Warner said. “As I have consistently stated, I support the President’s right to make this decision.”
Ellie