Sept. 4, 2006
 
COMMENTARY: Rumsfeld Can Rant, But He Can’t Run from Insults to Draftees
 
By Joseph J. Honick
 
Bainbridge Island, WA (HNN) -- At one point some years ago, Bill and Hillary Clinton uttered some rash and nasty comments about not liking the military. Those comments followed them throughout their White House years -- not surprisingly.
 
Lost, however, in the past few years, were the far worse commentaries by none other than the current Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld whose own military competence and management styles have hardly placed him in the pantheon of great leaders.
 
During a press conference in January, 2003, when queried about the possibility of a draft to meet manpower needs in the current war on terror and in Iraq, his response, in brief was that draftees “added no value, no advantage, really, to the United States Armed Services over any sustained period of time.”
 
These words of course not only shocked the families of the nearly 20,000 draftees who died in Vietnam and have their names emblazoned on the Wall in Washington, DC, but the many millions of other draftees who served through the horrors of World Wars I and II and the Korean conflict as well.
 
Perhaps “shock” is not the appropriate word. Maybe “insult,” or “anger” or any combination of legitimately bitter reactions would still be insufficient in reaction to such arrogant commentary from the person responsible for the men and women he has called into military action with so few positive results.
 
But it is also relevant to take such remarks into the political arena legitimately, especially given the long, long nasty ride the right wing gave to the passing but foolish remarks years ago by the Clintons and the fact the so called military minds of the current bunch in Washington have done so little to make the lives of returning Iraq/Afghanistan veterans easier. Add to this the lack of assuming responsibility when negative news finally creeps out of Iraq regarding torture and other alleged atrocities and putting blame on lower echelon personnel, one can readily suggest that Rumsfeld, clearly and continuously supported by the President and Vice President, should be shunted off to a job that is less costly to the lives of men and women who volunteered for the jobs he has handed them.
 
As the spokesperson for the Vietnam Veterans of America said on January 15, 2003, “Secretary Rumsfeld should know that the Vietnam War could not have continued for 10 years without a military draft of honorable Americans who accepted their military obligation as citizens of this great country.” Rumsfeld had made his amazing comments in response to a proposal by Congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY) to reinstate the draft. The switch to an all volunteer armed forces was signed into law by former President Richard Nixon in one swift and shortsighted act that relieved permanently any idea that American young people would be responsible for service to the nation.
 
Although Rumsfeld eventually expressed some weak apologies once caught for his insulting commentary, the wonder is why so little was made of his remarks by his own party or even the Democrats to highlight the reality of the Secretary’s thinking.
 
In the end, Rumsfeld can continue to rant, but he cannot run from his own words.