{"article":{"id":109982,"heading":"No blank check for Donald Rumsfeld","author":"John Kusumi","created":"2004-05-11 22:50:42","modified":"2004-05-11 22:50:42","last_modified":"Wed, 12 May 2004 05:50:42","article":"\r\n \r\n
\r\n

SUBMITTED OP-ED\/GUEST COLUMN
\r\n <\/b>May 10, 2004<\/p>\r\n <\/td>\r\n

\r\n <\/td>\r\n <\/tr>\r\n<\/table>\r\n\r\n

No blank check for Donald Rumsfeld<\/p>\r\n

A Practical Idealist makes a contingent call about\r\nthe fate
\r\nof our U.S. Defense Secretary.<\/b><\/p>\r\n

By John Kusumi<\/b><\/p>\r\n

Practical Idealism is not a political\r\nparty, but rather a political standpoint that arose in Generation X. We are\r\nwithout candidates vying for office or appointments. Rather, we take on the\r\nquestion, \"What does government look like on a good day? How would it be\r\nmanaged if people were important?\" That last phrase is present, not out of\r\nsarcasm or cynicism, but because the Practical Idealist clarion theme, ever\r\nsince its appearance on bumper stickers in 1984, is that \"People Are\r\nImportant.\"<\/p>\r\n

U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld\r\nhas a likeability quality to him, a depth of experience, and a certain geekiness\r\nthat I find endearing. He is known to be smart and detail oriented, with a\r\nstrength that I have admired in his hawkishness on China. It was others in the\r\nadministration, not Rumsfeld, who early in this term dashed the hope that\r\nhawkishness would prevail in U.S.-China policy.<\/p>\r\n

I can declare that I value hawks on\r\nChina, and that there are others in the administration whom I might denounce\r\nbefore Rumsfeld. In fact I did so in my capacity for the China Support Network\r\nin August 2003, suggesting a personnel change at the State Department.<\/p>\r\n

Now comes along the Iraqi prisoner abuse\r\nscandal, and observers of the news can note many calls for the resignation of\r\nDonald Rumsfeld. He has the benefit of the doubt from here as of this writing --\r\nbecause, I am not yet informed of the full extent of the abuses in Iraq. In Week\r\n# 1 of this crisis, I've seen photos of degradation and humiliation and heard\r\nstories that amount to torture. On that basis, I am still not calling for\r\nRumsfeld's resignation.<\/p>\r\n

There are strong reasons that suggest we\r\nmust finish what we started in Iraq. I believe this war to be unpopular, but\r\nnecessary. I was supportive in the first place of the mission to remove Saddam\r\nHussein from power -- something that should have been done in \"Gulf War\r\nI,\" a dozen years earlier.<\/p>\r\n

To change out Rumsfeld could be\r\nproblematic for the United States, during a complex war operation where his\r\nexpertise, knowledge, and seasoned eyeballs are hardly dispensable. There are\r\nreasons why my early reaction, in week one of this crisis, was that it is a\r\nmistake to make this too personal about Rumsfeld, and \"we would do just as\r\nwell to keep him in there.\"<\/p>\r\n

However, we are cruising into Week # 2 of\r\nthis crisis, and I suspect that it gets worse. If he reads my writing, Rumsfeld\r\nwill know that I have a positive opinion of him as an individual. However, my\r\ncall about Rumsfeld's fate will not be based on anything personal; rather\r\ninstead, it will be based upon the outcomes of his management. America suffered\r\nan enormous setback to its image -- something to shame us within world public\r\nopinion for years -- based on what I saw in Week # 1 of this crisis. We did not\r\nneed that black eye.<\/p>\r\n

However, the countervailing factors for\r\nkeeping Rumsfeld were so strong that I did not move with the herd as calls began\r\nrising for his scalp. Practical Idealism is not pure idealism -- it has its\r\npragmatic side. However, the red line here is the matter of life and death. That\r\nis the outcome by which to judge government management.<\/p>\r\n

After I finish writing this Op-Ed, then I\r\nwill lean into examining the case. I do not yet know how far my disappointment\r\nwill extend. But, my call for the fate of Rumsfeld will be based on this\r\n\"outcome\" factor. I am facing the question, \"Did these outcomes\r\ncross the line, and extend to the deaths of prisoners in custody due to\r\nmistreatment?\" I should hope not, meaning that I can be more forgiving of\r\nmilder abuse, and not call for Rumsfeld's head. But, if outcomes included deaths\r\nunder management, then I will be among those who will say yes -- this was that\r\nbad, and that Donald Rumsfeld should step down.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

\r\n

John Kusumi is a former candidate\r\nfor U.S. President (Ind., '84). He has since then founded the China Support\r\nNetwork and his XDC Software firm, and authored a book on political\r\nactivism and his experiences, available at Kusumi.com.<\/i><\/p>\r\n\n","contact":"","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/html","summary":"Practical Idealism weighs the Rumsfeld matter","numcomment":0,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2004\/05\/109982.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[]}