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Should Rumsfeld Go?

By Fox News
Published | Updated

In Wednesday's Washington Post, Bill Kristol wrote an op ed piece calling for the resignation of the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (search).

The trigger issue for Kristol was Rumsfeld's seeming arrogance and disconnect on the soldier's question about armored Humvees (search).

We all know what Rummy said and we all know that the soldier's question has had an immediate effect. The pentagon suddenly found $4 billion to up armor (search) vehicles in Iraq, or on their way to Iraq.

So, should Rummy stay, or go? It's up to President Bush and Kristol hazards a guess that Rumsfeld may be more likely to go after the Iraqi elections than before. So maybe it's just a matter of time.

Kristol thinks Bush should just have a better secretary of defense at this time — somebody more attuned to the war we're now facing in Iraq, not the one we fought when we invaded Iraq.

Me? I like Rumsfeld. I think he's direct. I think he's forced the military to think in new ways. I think he's had the strength to make the bureaucracy bend to the will of the president and those are very important things.

Could Rumsfeld have gotten to the point when he doesn't like hearing bad news and subordinates are therefore afraid of bringing up bad news? Maybe.

Maybe that's how we got a year and a half down the road from the first IED in Iraq and all the Humvees weren't armored yet. Maybe that's how we got to a spot where it certainly seems it would be better to have 250,000 troops there, but we can only have 150,000 because the troop cupboard is bare.

I don't know. I don't like to think badly of Rummy because his decisive nature has been good. But I do know the question is now seriously in play and I wouldn't be surprised if sometime soon we hear there's going to be a new secretary of defense.

I'd like to go to Rummy's good-bye party. I think he's done a great job at some very key moments and he should be remembered and toasted for that.

That's My Word.

Watch John Gibson weekdays at 5 p.m. ET on "The Big Story" and send your comments to: myword@foxnews.com