Don Rumsfeld’s been taking a lot of heat for his remark about going to war with the army you have, as though saying that was terribly wrong. But while his tone was too gruff for some, his answer was right on target.
Military history is full of examples of inappropriate equipment costing American lives. Our entire military was undersupplied going into World War II (search), since we spent the 1930s letting our military go to pot. But that didn’t stop us from declaring war on Japan and Germany, even though Germany didn’t attack us in Pearl Harbor.
The armor in Gen. George S. Patton's (search) tanks was so thin that soldiers joked about bullets going in and bouncing around inside until a soldier’s body stopped them. Eventually, Gen. Patton screamed loud enough for the bureaucrats in the war department to hear, and the tanks were up-armored.
The military is a bureaucracy, and it often behaves as one, until a brave soldier or innovative commander speaks up and gets the bureaucracy moving. Remember the word snafu is actually military jargon for situation normal, all “fouled” up. Of course, the original usage had a more expressive "f" word.
Bottom line is: there may be some reason for letting Don Rumsfeld go, but he shouldn't be fired for telling the truth.
And that’s the Asman Observer.
Watch David Asman on "FOX News Live" weekdays at noon ET.
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