The Hindu : International : Republicans turn on beleaguered Rumsfeld

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 21, 2004

International

International

Republicans turn on beleaguered Rumsfeld

By Dan Glaister

LOS ANGELES, DEC. 20. The pressure on the beleaguered U.S. Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, intensified yesterday and threatened to taint his main supporter, the President, George W. Bush.

David Hackworth, a retired U.S. army colonel-turned-writer, reported that Mr. Rumsfeld had used a mechanical signature writer to sign his name on letters of condolence to relatives of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Though the charge was initially denied by the Pentagon, Mr. Rumsfeld issued a statement on Thursday acknowledging the practice and promising to halt it. ``While I have not individually signed each one, in the interest of ensuring expeditious contact with grieving family members, I have directed that in the future I sign each letter,'' Mr. Rumsfeld said in the statement.

Mr. Hackworth also reported allegations by relatives of deceased soldiers that letters they had received from the President had been signed by a machine.

Ted Smith, whose son Eric was one of the first 100 U.S. soldiers to die in Iraq, told Mr. Hackworth that the letter he received ``from the Commander-in-Chief was signed with a thick, green marking pen.

I thought it was stamped then and do even now. He had time for golf and the ranch but not enough to sign a decent signature with a pen for his beloved hero soldiers.''

Rejecting the charges, the White House spokesman, Allen Abney, told the armed forces newspaper Stars and Stripes that the President did personally sign all condolence letters.

Uncomfortable fortnight

But the revelations about Mr. Rumsfeld cap an uncomfortable fortnight for the Defence Secretary. One of the few members of the Bush Cabinet to avoid being reshuffled after the election, he has come under attack from within the Republican Party.

Mr. Rumsfeld also came under attack from the veteran Republican and former Senate majority leader, Trent Lott, last week, who declared that he was ``not a fan'' of the Secretary of Defence.

And William Kristol, the editor of the conservative Weekly Standard and one of the biggest supporters of the neo-conservative foreign policy followed by the Bush White House, questioned whether Mr. Rumsfeld was the right man for the job. —

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International

News Update

Stories in this Section

Iraqis' suffering must end: Pakistan

Shia leaders caution against revenge attacks

GCC summit begins

Republicans turn on beleaguered Rumsfeld

Hu for better governance of Hong Kong

"They are not dissidents"

Protest against Musharraf stand

Baby-talk clue to language

Search for antimatter

Guerilla leader turns to crime writing

Swiss Army knife goes hi-tech

Kaplan to face trial in Turkey

Sikh fury against London theatre