Opinion

Rumsfeld's reign

It is both odd and difficult to believe that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld never got around to reading the 53-page report by Major Gen. Antonio Taguba listing the terrible abuse of Iraqis at Abu Ghraib prison 20 miles west of Baghdad. It is also odd and difficult to believe that the private military firm CACI International has never heard from the Army or the Department of Defense that Taguba named two of its employees of directly or indirectly causing widespread abuse. It would be useful to know why Rumsfeld never read the Taguba report. Not doing so is at best dereliction of duty, at worst incompetence. Either way, Rumsfeld has not served his president well. Reports Thursday said President Bush was unhappy having been blind-sided by the torture story. Nonetheless, the president's spokesman Scott McClellan said Rumsfeld and the president met Wednesday and Bush "very much appreciates the job Secretary Rumsfeld is doing and the president has great confidence in his leadership." It is difficult to understand why the president has such confidence. The planning for the occupation of Iraq was obviously deficient. More than 750 Americans have been killed in supposedly ridding the world of weapons of mass destruction, which never existed. Some 624 have died since the president's victory landing on May 1, 2003 on the USS Abraham Lincoln. It is also difficult to accept the president's statement to an Arab television network when he promised, "people will be held to account" for the prisoner abuses. It's difficult because Bush has presided over one of the least accountable administrations in the history of the presidency. No one has been held accountable for the absence of weapons of mass destruction. No one has been held accountable for the fact that the CIA never had a clue that the weapons had not existed since the Gulf War. No one has been held accountable for leaking the name of a CIA agent to syndicated columnist Robert Novak. No one has been held accountable for the administration's lack of urgency in facing the terrorist threat before the 9/11 attacks. No one has been held accountable in reportedly excessive if not fraudulent spending by civilian contractors in Iraq. No one has been held accountable for the hiring of thousands of private military contractors who are free to act virtually with impunity because they are beyond military law. No one has been held accountable for turning a huge budget surplus into a staggering deficit. No one has been held accountable for losing 2 million jobs. No one has been held accountable for the lack of enforcement of EPA rules and regulations. Accountability has not been a hallmark of the Bush administration, and it is difficult to believe that it will readily change its ways. If Rumsfeld were sincere in serving the president, he would resign. In so doing, he would mollify at least some Arabs by taking responsibility for the torture at Abu Ghraib prison. Ultimately, it is surely his responsibility. The president is making a mistake by failing to call him to account.