Why won't Bush get rid of Rumsfeld?
408756
Bush, like many recovering alcoholics, is paralyzed by fear of doing anything unless it is 100% clear what has to be done.
819980
I think he will be forced to resign. Rumsfeld seems to be out of the loop these days with the Bush Administration, which is an indication to me that he will be even more out of the loop after the elections.
401464
The generals calling for the resignation of Rumsfeld have spent their lives in the service of our country.  They understand war; when to consider war; the objectives of war; the acceptable conclusion of war; the exit strategy of war.  None of these criteria have been met with this administration.  What we have with Bush and Rumsfeld is a loose cannon mentality.  \nOf any of the three axis of evil candidates to attack, Iraq was the least of a threat.  Do we really care that Saddam was a cruel and ruthless leader?  Hell, they're all over the world, and to some we send foreign aid. So here we are with our troops distracted in a no win situation in Iraq,  our resources for war pretty well drained because of three or four years of battle, and these guys are ready to go it again.  I don't get it, and neither do they.  I do understand one thing, these guys shoot from the hip.  They have no game plan, and they sure the hell have no exit strategy for the battle in Iraq or any subsequent battles.\n\nPerhaps they need to read up a little more about the downfall of the Third Reich, and particularly Adolf Hitler. Old Adolph had a penchant for ignoring his generals, too! Look what happen to him.
648816
Rumsfeld is an absolute CRIMINAL. He should be relieved of duty, along with that W guy. The rich guy from Wyoming needs to go, too...
384467
Absolutely, Rumsfeld is old and has no clue whats going on, a new fresh of eyes and opinions, and someone with Keen military strategy. someone who knows how to work within the branches and work them togetther for a tactical approach. we need to reestablish what the goals are and who is being targeted. rummy has got to go....
972414
Rumsfeld was fired by Bush this morning, it was evident at the press conference today. Bush is afraid of the trails that lead back to him from Rumsfelds failures in Iraq.
326030
I believe Rumsfield is thinking more about himself lately than anything. He has several High ranking officers who control the U.S. military that are against him, they may and could interpet his orders in their own way. It is also possible he could pull a big blunder which will oust him. With president Bush supporting him and 70+% of the nation not in favor of Bush I would say that is a big problem.
584564
When a president is elected, they hold the office for 4 years. Even if a majority of the population decides they don't like him, after all, he can't be removed unless he's impeached by the legislative branch of our government.\nHe has to have committed what they deem to be an impeachable offense.\nThen he still may retain the office if not convicted for the offense.\nSo, no, we the people, cannot get rid of Bush.\nAs far as the vote goes, Bush "won" with only a 2-3% majority, and a lot of people here dispute the accuracy of that. There are a lot of people who believe that the election was "rigged" in various ways to ensure that slight majority.
863934
Bush won't have a free hand to do what he wants to.
582145
Because the Bush Administration has failed on almost every level. I'm just praying for his administration to end without any more major mistakes. I If you are going to run the U.S. like a corporation, at least have some good business sense and ethics. Read about Bush's business failures before he was elected into office and you'll understand why we're in such a mess right now.
914674
Rumsfeld was a highly divisive figure. It's likely that a democratic legislature would have found a way to force him out of office. Rather than open himself up for that kind of fight (and, by extension, open the white house up to the fight), he resigned.\n\nI disagree with the prior poster saying leaving earlier would have hurt the Republican party. I think leaving earlier would have helped the GOP. A lot of people, not just Democrats, wanted Rumsfeld gone. If he had left prior to elections, it would have shown a white house willingness to adapt and respond to criticism -- something that it's thus far been fairly slow and unwilling to do.
376949
I believe that Defense Secretary Rumsfeld needs to resign. While in office, his vision for the military simply does not jibe with reality. His concept of "transformation" means cutting down troop levels, purchasing a ton of gold plated fly boy toys, and letting the military-industrial complex (and private military companies) get hold of the taxpayers' hard earned money.\n\nThe perception of Rumsfeld is that with superior technology, America can defeat any opponent, unconventional and conventional. This is evident in the emphasis on technology as opposed to doctrine and training. However, as Col. Boyd (who developed the concept of OODA) once said, "People, ideas, hardware, in that order!" One must remember that in Vietnam, we had superior technology, but we could not entirely eliminate the NVA and VC after how many years of combat (though the VC was decimated after the Tet Offensive). In Korea, the Chinese were able to surprise the UN & US and drive them back, after managing to conceal their entire divisions from the UN/US air patrols. Americans must realize that technology may be a force multiplier, but cannot be relied on too much to fight wars. History has proven time and time again that excellent strategy, training, and quality warriors will always turn the tide of the war while technology helps (and hinders as well). One must also look at Iraq and see what is the major killer of our warriors. IEDs. These IEDs are relatively inexpensive, and are able to defeat our hundred thousand dollar uparmored HUMVEEs and even our million dollar M1A2 Abrams tank. RPGs can take down our helicopters. Why is it that the enemy can find a low cost and effective solution and we cannot? And about the Army's planned brigade combat teams... it guts maneuvering elements (and counts the reconnaisance battalion as a maneuvering element) while enlarging headquarters. Being flexible is important, but this BCT concept on the surface seems to make it more flexible, but in reality makes it less flexible. With less maneuvering elements and a bloated headquarters, it becomes more slower and inefficient.\n\nNot to mention, his performance for the invasion of Iraq was unacceptable. Despite the warnings and objections from the professional generals (about troop levels, post-war planning, etc), he decided to go ahead anyways. Now we are stuck fighting an insurgency in an effort to stabilize Iraq.
892319
Bush is afraid of Nancy Pelosi, and here is why Rumsfeld was fired: LINK\nhttp://stream.paranode.com/imc/portland/images/2003/12/276084.jpg\nhttp://portland.indymedia.org/en/2003/12/276083.shtml
877703
It's called falling on your sword.  People have been complaining about Rumsfeld and the aimless way the war in Iraq has been conducted.  He should have been fired in 2004.  After the Republican's monumental loss last night, Bush had to make a show that he finally gets it.  Yeah, they said Rumsfeld resigned, but he was asked to resign to make it look like Bush is making a fresh start.
698760
Neither. The only thing that will happen is bush will put another person who thinks like Rumsfeld in his place. There will be no change in that aspect. However, the person taking his place has to deal with a Democratic Congress, so now he needs to come up with an exit strategy. Rumsfeld didn't feel like dealing with it. That's why he "cut and ran"...
981829
George W. is too dumb to fire Rumsfeld.
787055
Why should they?  He was just a front man for the screwy policies of Rumsfeld and Cheney, the two men who gave us our foreign policy.  (That's why Colim Powell quit, by the way.)  Bush is just a dummy.