Rumsfeld Resigns

[jinelson]

Bush: Donald Rumsfeld Stepping Down
Former CIA Head Gates Named For New Defense Secretary
(CBS) WASHINGTON Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, architect of an unpopular war in Iraq, intends to resign after six stormy years at the Pentagon, Republican officials said Wednesday.

Officials said Robert Gates, former head of the CIA, would replace Rumsfeld.

The development occurred one day after midterm elections that cost Republicans control of the House, and possibly the Senate, as well. Surveys of voters at polling places said opposition to the war was a significant contributor to the Democratic victory.

President Bush announced Rumsfeld's departure and Gates' nomination at an afternoon news conference. Administration officials notified congressional officials in advance.

Bush told reporters he knows that a lot of voters were registering their "displeasure" with a "lack of progress" in Iraq. But Bush also says he thinks most people recognize that the U.S. can't "accept defeat" there.

Last week, as he campaigned to save the Republican majority, Bush declared that Rumsfeld would remain at the Pentagon through the end of his term.

Rumsfeld, 74, was in his second tour of duty as defense chief. He first held the job a generation ago, when he was appointed by President Ford.

Gates is the president of Texas A&M University and a close friend of the Bush family. He served as CIA director for Bush's father from 1991 until 1993.

Gates first joined the CIA in 1966 and served in the intelligence community for more than a quarter century, under six presidents.

His nomination must be confirmed by the Senate.

Whatever confidence Bush retained in Rumsfeld, the Cabinet officer's support in Congress had eroded significantly. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the House speaker-in-waiting, said at her first post-election news conference that Bush should replace the top civilian leadership at the Pentagon.

And Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who had intervened in the past to shore up Rumsfeld, issued a statement saying, "Washington must now work together in a bipartisan way - Republicans and Democrats - to outline the path to success in Iraq."

Bush credited Rumsfeld with overseeing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan while overhauling the military. "I'm pleased with the progress we're making," the president said. He replied in the affirmative if he wanted Rumsfeld and Cheney to stay with him until the end.

Previously President Bush credited Rumsfeld with overseeing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan while overhauling the military.

"I'm pleased with the progress we're making," the president said. He replied in the affirmative if he wanted Rumsfeld and Cheney to stay with him until the end.

[thedrifter]

November 08, 2006

Rumsfeld out as secretary; Gates to take over Defense Department

By Gordon Lubold
Staff writer

President Bush announced today and former CIA director Robert Gates will replace him.

Bush said it is time for “fresh eyes” on Iraq and the war on terrorism and said he and Rumsfeld agreed yesterday, on Election Day, that it was time for a change at the Pentagon.

It is unclear how soon Rumsfeld will leave the Pentagon, which he has led since Bush took office in January 2001. Defense officials indicated that he would keep an appointment he has to speak at Kansas State University on Thursday. Officials at the Pentagon, who appeared to be as much taken by surprise by the announcement as anyone else, said Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England will serve in an acting position until a replacement is found. The U.S. Senate must confirm the Gates’ nomination.

Gates led the CIA, under then-President George H.W. Bush, from November 1991 to January 1993. He first joined the CIA in 1966 and served in the intelligence community for more than a quarter century, under six presidents.

Bush said he has had a series of “thoughtful” conversations with members of both political parties and said he is attempting to work with both to work together on Iraq and the problems the country faces with the war on terrorism.

Bush, who met with Gates at his Crawford, Texas, ranch on Sunday, said Gates has 25 years’ of national security experience and is an “effective leader with sound judgment.”

Gates is serving on the Iraq Study Group led by former Secretary of State James Baker and former congressman Lee Hamilton. Gates now presides over Texas A&M University.

Bush called Rumsfeld a “patriot who served our country with honor and distinction,” but said he would have “more to say” about Rumsfeld later in the day.


To insurgents in Iraq and terrorists, Bush said “do not be joyful,” and to Iraqis he said, “our nation is committed to bringing you justice.”

Bush told troops they should remain confident that the country will always be behind them.

“To our brave men and women in uniform, don’t be doubtful,” Bush said. “America will always support you.”

Dr. Robert M. Gates Biography

Dr. Robert M. Gates is the 22nd President of Texas A&M University, the nation's seventh largest university and an institution recognized internationally for its teaching, research and public service. He assumed the presidency of the land-grant, sea-grant and space-grant university on August 1, 2002. Dr. Gates served as Interim Dean of the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M from 1999-2001.

He served as Director of Central Intelligence from 1991 until 1993. In this position, he headed all foreign intelligence agencies of the United States and directed the Central Intelligence Agency. Dr. Gates is the only career officer in CIA's history to rise from entry-level employee to Director. He served as Deputy Director of Central Intelligence from 1986 until 1989 and as Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Adviser at The White House from January 20, 1989 until November 6, 1991 for President George H.W. Bush.

Dr. Gates joined the Central Intelligence Agency in 1966 and spent nearly 27 years as an intelligence professional, serving six presidents. During that period, he spent nearly nine years at the National Security Council, The White House, serving four presidents of both political parties.

Dr. Gates has been awarded the National Security Medal, the Presidential Citizens Medal, has twice received the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal, and has three times received CIA's highest award, the Distinguished Intelligence Medal.

He is the author of the memoir, From the Shadows: The Ultimate Insider's Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War, published in 1996.

Dr. Gates serves on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the American Council on Education, the Board of Directors of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, and the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America. He is President of the National Eagle Scout Association.

Dr. Gates serves as Chairman of the Independent Trustees of The Fidelity Funds, the nation's largest mutual fund company, and on the board of directors of NACCO Industries, Inc., Brinker International, Inc. and Parker Drilling Company, Inc.

A native of Kansas, Dr. Gates received his bachelor's degree from the College of William and Mary, his master's degree in history from Indiana University, and his doctorate in Russian and Soviet history from Georgetown University. Dr. Gates is 62, and he and his wife Becky have two adult children.

Ellie

[FistFu68]

:evilgrin: FREE BEER & PRETZLES IN THE KREMLIN TONIGHT :evilgrin:

[eddief]

About freaking time. See ya, Rummy!

[Osotogary]

FREE BEER & PRETZLES IN THE KREMLIN TONIGHT

Did you say...FREE? LOL

[hrscowboy]

Orahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh free beer is ok by me and wheres the dang pretzels??

[10thzodiac]

November 08, 2006

Rumsfeld out as secretary; Gates to take over Defense Department

By Gordon Lubold
Staff writer

President Bush announced today and former CIA director Robert Gates will replace him.

Bush said it is time for “fresh eyes” on Iraq and the war on terrorism and said he and Rumsfeld agreed yesterday, on Election Day, that it was time for a change at the Pentagon.

It is unclear how soon Rumsfeld will leave the Pentagon, which he has led since Bush took office in January 2001. Defense officials indicated that he would keep an appointment he has to speak at Kansas State University on Thursday. Officials at the Pentagon, who appeared to be as much taken by surprise by the announcement as anyone else, said Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England will serve in an acting position until a replacement is found. The U.S. Senate must confirm the Gates’ nomination.

Gates led the CIA, under then-President George H.W. Bush, from November 1991 to January 1993. He first joined the CIA in 1966 and served in the intelligence community for more than a quarter century, under six presidents.

Bush said he has had a series of “thoughtful” conversations with members of both political parties and said he is attempting to work with both to work together on Iraq and the problems the country faces with the war on terrorism.

Bush, who met with Gates at his Crawford, Texas, ranch on Sunday, said Gates has 25 years’ of national security experience and is an “effective leader with sound judgment.”

Gates is serving on the Iraq Study Group led by former Secretary of State James Baker and former congressman Lee Hamilton. Gates now presides over Texas A&M University.

Bush called Rumsfeld a “patriot who served our country with honor and distinction,” but said he would have “more to say” about Rumsfeld later in the day.


To insurgents in Iraq and terrorists, Bush said “do not be joyful,” and to Iraqis he said, “our nation is committed to bringing you justice.”

Bush told troops they should remain confident that the country will always be behind them.

“To our brave men and women in uniform, don’t be doubtful,” Bush said. “America will always support you.”

Dr. Robert M. Gates Biography

Dr. Robert M. Gates is the 22nd President of Texas A&M University, the nation's seventh largest university and an institution recognized internationally for its teaching, research and public service. He assumed the presidency of the land-grant, sea-grant and space-grant university on August 1, 2002. Dr. Gates served as Interim Dean of the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M from 1999-2001.

He served as Director of Central Intelligence from 1991 until 1993. In this position, he headed all foreign intelligence agencies of the United States and directed the Central Intelligence Agency. Dr. Gates is the only career officer in CIA's history to rise from entry-level employee to Director. He served as Deputy Director of Central Intelligence from 1986 until 1989 and as Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Adviser at The White House from January 20, 1989 until November 6, 1991 for President George H.W. Bush.

Dr. Gates joined the Central Intelligence Agency in 1966 and spent nearly 27 years as an intelligence professional, serving six presidents. During that period, he spent nearly nine years at the National Security Council, The White House, serving four presidents of both political parties.

Dr. Gates has been awarded the National Security Medal, the Presidential Citizens Medal, has twice received the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal, and has three times received CIA's highest award, the Distinguished Intelligence Medal.

He is the author of the memoir, From the Shadows: The Ultimate Insider's Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War, published in 1996.

Dr. Gates serves on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the American Council on Education, the Board of Directors of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, and the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America. He is President of the National Eagle Scout Association.

Dr. Gates serves as Chairman of the Independent Trustees of The Fidelity Funds, the nation's largest mutual fund company, and on the board of directors of NACCO Industries, Inc., Brinker International, Inc. and Parker Drilling Company, Inc.

A native of Kansas, Dr. Gates received his bachelor's degree from the College of William and Mary, his master's degree in history from Indiana University, and his doctorate in Russian and Soviet history from Georgetown University. Dr. Gates is 62, and he and his wife Becky have two adult children.

Ellie





This much Brzezinski candidly admitted in an interview with a French magazine called Le Nouvel Observateur:
Q: The former director of the CIA, Robert Gates, stated in his memoirs ["From the Shadows"], that American intelligence services began to aid the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan 6 months before the Soviet intervention. In this period you were the national security adviser to President Carter. You therefore played a role in this affair. Is that correct?


Brzezinski: Yes. According to the official version of history, CIA aid to the Mujahadeen began during 1980, that is to say, after the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan, 24 Dec 1979. But the reality, secretly guarded until now, is completely otherwise: Indeed, it was July 3, 1979 that President Carter signed the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul. And that very day, I wrote a note to the president in which I explained to him that in my opinion this aid was going to induce a Soviet military intervention.

Q: Despite this risk, you were an advocate of this covert action. But perhaps you yourself desired this Soviet entry into war and looked to provoke it?

B: It isn't quite that. We didn't push the Russians to intervene, but we knowingly increased the probability that they would. (No pagination)


The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan provided a catalyst for Brzezinski's radical Islam project. Under the pretext of education, Afghan children were propagandized and transformed into a generation of radicalized Muslims. This project was exposed in an article in the Washington Post:
In the twilight of the Cold War, the United States spent millions of dollars to supply Afghan schoolchildren with textbooks filled violent images and militant Islamic teachings, part of covert attempts to spur resistance to the Soviet occupation.
THE PRIMERS, which were filled with talk of jihad and featured drawings of guns, bullets, soldiers and mines, have served since then as the Afghan school system's core curriculum. Even the Taliban used the American-produced books, though the radical movement scratched out human faces in keeping with its strict fundamentalist code. (Stephens & Ottaway, no pagination)


Various governmental and educational organizations were involved in this project:
Published in the dominant Afghan languages of Dari and Pashtu, the textbooks were developed in the early 1980s under an AID [Agency for International Development] grant to the University of Nebraska-Omaha and its Center for Afghanistan Studies. The agency spent $51 million on the university's education programs in Afghanistan from 1984 to 1994. (Stephens & Ottaway, no pagination)


The material circulated by this campaign was replete with violent images and language:
Children were taught to count with illustrations showing tanks, missiles and land mines, agency officials said. They acknowledged that at the time it also suited U.S. interests to stoke hatred of foreign invaders. (Stephens & Ottaway, no pagination)


According to the article's authors, the material shocked and disturbed some: "An aid worker in the region reviewed an unrevised 100-page book and counted 43 pages containing violent images or passages" (Stephens & Ottaway, no pagination). The article elaborates:
One page from the texts of that period shows a resistance fighter with a bandolier and a Kalashnikov slung from his shoulder. The soldier's head is missing. Above the soldier is a verse from the Koran. Below is a Pashtu tribute to the mujaheddin [sic], who are described as obedient to Allah. Such men will sacrifice their wealth and life itself to impose Islamic law on the government, the text says. (Stephens & Ottaway, no pagination)


After Afghanistan's population was sufficiently radicalized, the county was used as a base of operations for the dissemination of this violent form of Islam to the rest of the Arab world. Ahmed Rashid pointed this out in his article for Foreign Affairs magazine entitled "The Taliban: Exporting Extremism." In the article, Rashid writes:
With the active encouragement of the CIA and Pakistan's ISI, who wanted to turn the Afghan jihad into a global war waged by all Muslim states against the Soviet Union, some 35,000 Muslim radicals from 40 Islamic countries joined Afghanistan's fight between 1982 and 1992. Tens of thousands more came to study in Pakistani madrasahs. Eventually more than 100,000 foreign Muslim radicals were directly influenced by the Afghan jihad. (No pagination)


Thanks to Brzezinski, USAID, CIA, ISI, and others among America's establishment, this violent form of Islam spread from Afghanistan and reached much of the Middle East. The results of Lebanon's May 2005 national parliamentary elections makes it abundantly clear that this violent form of Islam had infected the Lebanese people. The radical Islamic group Hezbollah won the largest number of representatives in it history ("Hezbollah and the 'Cedar Revolution'," Wikipedia, no pagination). The mixture of plebiscitary democracy and radical Islam reached its most disastrous results in July 2005 when Hezbollah was asked to join Lebanon's government. Israel's military moves in Lebanon are the results of Hezbollah kidnapping two Israeli soldiers.
Manipulation of the political landscape of the Middle East has resulted in a dangerous enemy raising its head in Lebanon. Perhaps that was the plan from the very beginning. The elite are not stupid. They fully realize that you cannot radicalize a population and then promote the idea of free elections for that population. Such a move would lead to the creation of an enemy that would have to be dealt with somewhere down the line. Brzezinski knows this. The CIA knows this. Most importantly, the neoconservatives who have brought about the current Israeli-Lebanon conflict stage in the global war with radical Islam know this.
Whether one speaks about the neoconservatives or some other blueblood faction, it must be understood that the elite as a whole subscribes to what can only be described as a foreign policy of cynicism. This method has been used by the oligarchs for decades, if not centuries. First, the elite destabilize and overthrow a target nation's government. Second, the hidden manipulators facilitate the rise of dictatorial and potential dangerous regime to replace the target nation's former government. Third and final, the elite instigate hostility from the new dictatorial regime which leads to a war that acts as a pretext for a political agenda. The political agenda almost always includes the promotion of an oligarchic model of world government. World domination has always been the final prize in the eyes of the elite. In the words of Henry Kissinger: "Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac."


We seem to be seeing a variation of the foreign policy of cynicism being employed in the case of Lebanon. The neocons encourage plebiscitary democracy in Lebanon through the Cedar Revolution. This manifestation of the global democratic revolution helped Hezbollah climb the Lebanese political ladder and become a potential enemy. The neocons hope this will provide a pretext to continue the American Empire's march across the Middle East. A discussion General Wesley Clark had with a Pentagon senior military staff officer confirms that the neocons have intended to militarily occupy the Middle East for quite some time:
As I went back through the Pentagon in November 2001, one of the senior military staff officers had time for a chat. Yes, we were still on track for going against Iraq, he said. But there was more. This was being discussed as part of a five-year campaign plan, he said, and there was a total of seven countries, beginning with Iraq, then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia, and Sudan. (130)


The neocon encouraged rise of Hezbollah to a place of political prominence in Lebanon has provided the pretext for the American Empire to continue its military globe trotting. The end result will be the neoconservative faction realizing their model of world government.
Sources Cited

"Cedar Revolution (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedar_Revolution)." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia 19 July 2006
Clark, Wesley. Winning Modern Wars: Iraq, Terrorism, and the American Empire (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1586482777/conspiracyarc-20/). New York: Public Affairs, 2003.
Dobriansky, Paula J. " Remarks on Release of Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2004 (http://www.state.gov/g/rls/rm/2005/42793.htm)" 28 February 2005
Hassan Mohamed. "Who was Rafik Hariri and who was behind his assassination? (http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/HAS503A.html)" Global Research. 14 March 2005.
"Hezbollah and the 'Cedar Revolution.' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hezbollah#Hezbollah_and_the_.22Cedar_Revolution.22 )" Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia 19 July 2006
"Interview of Zbigniew Brzezinski (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/konformist/message/2429)." Online posting. 15-21 January 1998. Konformist Yahoo Discussion Group. July 2002
Parry, Robert. "The Hariri Mirage: Lessons Unlearned (http://www.consortiumnews.com/2006/061506.html)." Consortium News. 16 June 2006.
"Paula J. Dobriansky (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paula_J._Dobriansky)." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia 22 February 2006
Rashid, Ahmed. "The Taliban: Exporting Extremism (http://www.foreignaffairs.org/19991101faessay1017/ahmed-rashid/the-taliban-exporting-extremism.html)." Foreign Affairs Online. November/December 1999
Ryn, Claes G. America the Virtuous: The Crisis of Democracy and the Quest for Empire (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0765802198/conspiracyarc-20/). News Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers, 2003.
Stephens, Joe and David B. Ottaway. "From the U.S.A., the ABCs of jihad (http://www.tenc.net/news/abc.htm)." MSNBC. 2002About the author

Paul D. Collins has studied suppressed history and the shadowy undercurrents of world political dynamics for roughly eleven years. In 1999, he earned his Associate of Arts and Science degree. In 2006, he completed his bachelor's degree with a major in liberal studies and a minor political science. Paul has authored another book entitled <CITE>The Hidden Face of Terrorism: The Dark Side of Social Engineering, From Antiquity to September 11</CITE>. Published in November 2002, the book is available online from www.1stbooks.com (http://www.1stbooks.com/), barnesandnoble.com (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/), and also amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/). It can be purchased as an e-book (ISBN 1-4033-6798-1) or in paperback format (ISBN 1-4033-6799-X). Paul also co-authored <CITE>The Ascendancy of the Scientific Dictatorship</CITE> (ISBN 1-4196-3932-3).
<CITE>The Ascendancy of the Scientific Dictatorship</CITE> is available here (http://www.booksurge.com/product.php3?bookID=GPUB06850-00001). Read a comprehensive collection of Collins essays here (http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/Commentary/Collins.php).

http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/Commentary/Lebanon.htm

[rb1651]

10thzodiak, no disrespect intended, but what the HECK does that have to do with Rummy the Dummy being asked to leave office. This hick in the sticks could care less about what someone said word for word. I tend to talk to my peers, family and friends in the first person, not behind quotation remarks. You have brought many a good arguement to discussions here, but I am not seeing the relationship between what you have quoted, and the topic of this thread. (I did not read the entire thing, only because I personally like to use my own words, and not try to go for a perfect grade on a term paper.)

[10thzodiac]

10thzodiak, no disrespect intended, but what the HECK does that have to do with Rummy the Dummy being asked to leave office. This hick in the sticks could care less about what someone said word for word. I tend to talk to my peers, family and friends in the first person, not behind quotation remarks. You have brought many a good arguement to discussions here, but I am not seeing the relationship between what you have quoted, and the topic of this thread. (I did not read the entire thing, only because I personally like to use my own words, and not try to go for a perfect grade on a term paper.)

The article shows Rumsfeld's replacements Robert Gates involvement as the CIA Director in Afghan children being propagandized and transformed into a generation of radicalized Muslims; provoking the Russians to attack Afghanistan, radicalism being spilled over throughout the Middle East, etc.

I just find it insane that one of the architects of Viet-Iraq Middle East mess , Robert Gates, with thousands of our troops dead or wounded and no end in sight, is now the Secretary of Defense. To me thats like trusting Mark Foley with your boy or Ted Haggard with your spirituality. http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/tsmileys2/34.gif

SF
10th

[yellowwing]

Okay, so why do we have an Army General as CIA Director and now we are going to have a CIA Director as Defense Secretary?

On a lighter note, Bush commenting on Pelosi and the Democrats House majority victory:

And in my first act of bipartisan outreach since the election, I shared with her the names of some Republican interior decorators who can help her pick out the new drapes in her new offices.

Great, you help her pick her drapes, and she hleps you pick the next Secretary of Defense. Not really a square deal.

[10thzodiac]

Okay, so why do we have an Army General as CIA Director and now we are going to have a CIA Director as Defense Secretary?

On a lighter note, Bush commenting on Pelosi and the Democrats House majority victory:

Great, you help her pick her drapes, and she hleps you pick the next Secretary of Defense. Not really a square deal.

Maybe this is why ?

http://myprivatesexsite.com/uploads/post-1-1162862226.jpg

SF
10th

[rb1651]

10th, thanks for the explanation. Don't always have to agree, but it sure helps clear the fog. Great picture too.

[drumcorpssnare]

I'm not upset that Rumsfeld resigned. I'm tempted to say the Joint Cheifs should also resign, for the same reason. NO EXIT STRATEGY!!!
The plan to "get out" is as important as the plan to "go in." They are ALL culpable...not just Rummy.

On a side note- Last night I had a smoke with a young Marine just back from Afghanistan. Three months from now, he plans to be in Iraq, for his second tour there. I asked him to share his thoughts on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said, "It's debateable whether we should have gone into Iraq in the first place. But we're there now. We should stay until the job is done. If the Democrats pull us out now, Iraq will crumble into utter chaos.
And Korea is a whole 'nother matter. I'd just love to go there and stomp their dicks in the dirt, like the Corps did in the Korean War. BRING IT ON!!!"
Then he said to me, "Ooraah, Marine! Happy Birthday!"
I said, "Happy Birthday Marine! SEMPER FI!"

drumcorpssnare:usmc:

[greensideout]

Looking back upon my thoughts of "Rumbo" I could see many things that I didn't like, in fact some of his actions really pi$$ed me off. On the other hand I did find an endearing quality, at least to me. It was his bluntness, his straight forward style. He never left you guessing as to what he said but instead, he had you either cheering or mad as hell.

I'll miss Rumbo. He was so easy to hate, but I could hate him with a smile more times then not.

[jgorosco]

[QUOTE][/Brzezinski: Yes. According to the official version of history, CIA aid to the Mujahadeen began during 1980, that is to say, after the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan, 24 Dec 1979. But the reality, secretly guarded until now, is completely otherwise: Indeed, it was July 3, 1979 that President Carter signed the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul. And that very day, I wrote a note to the president in which I explained to him that in my opinion this aid was going to induce a Soviet military intervention.
QUOTE]

Wasn't Carter a democratic President? I had to ask before I read on. Once I get an answer I will read on and ask questions accordingly.

Thanks for any help 10zzzzzzzzz Sorry just feel asleep for a second!