NYT/AP: Rumsfeld Snub of War Hearing Draws Fire (too busy)

[DeepModem Mom]

Rumsfeld Snub of War Hearing Draws Fire
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 2, 2006

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said he essentially was too busy to testify at a public hearing on the Iraq war, raising a new furor on Capitol Hill over the three-year-old conflict.

Speaking to Pentagon reporters Wednesday, Rumsfeld said he thought it was enough for him to attend a private briefing with the entire Senate on Thursday. Citing his crowded calendar, he declined the Senate Armed Services Committee's request to testify publicly on Thursday morning.

Rumsfeld suggested that complaints about his decision could be politically motivated....

***

Rumsfeld's decision drew protests from committee Democrats who said much had changed in the six months since he last testified and took questions from the committee. The request for his appearance came from the committee chairman, Sen. John Warner, R-Va., and the top Democrat, Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan....

***

Rumsfeld last appeared before the committee on Feb. 7....In the six months since, the number of U.S. troops in Iraq has dipped but now is back up to about 133,000, as part of an effort to quell the violence in Baghdad. The total could exceed 135,000 in the weeks and months ahead.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Rumsfeld.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

1. What an arrogant POS....

:puke: :puke: :puke:

[Fridays Child]

2. Doesn't the committee have subpeona power?

[panader0]

3. chicken shit Bawk Bawk Bawk!!

[Solly Mack]

4. Rumsfeld isn't afraid of Congress

Congress has been marginalized by the Bush Regime - but not without the help of some members of Congress.

[Barrett808]

5. Link with the full story:

Rumsfeld Snub of War Hearing Draws Fire
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/politics/4090429.html

[samsingh]

6. he's an idiot

[Pithlet]

7. kick

[Judi Lynn]

8. Rumsfeld Snub of War Hearing Draws Fire

Associated Press
Rumsfeld Snub of War Hearing Draws Fire
By LOLITA C. BALDOR , 08.02.2006, 06:23 PM

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said he essentially was too busy to testify at a public hearing on the Iraq war, raising a new furor on Capitol Hill over the three-year-old conflict.

Speaking to Pentagon reporters Wednesday, Rumsfeld said he thought it was enough for him to attend a private briefing with the entire Senate on Thursday. Citing his crowded calendar, he declined the Senate Armed Services Committee's request to testify publicly on Thursday morning.

Rumsfeld's decision drew protests from committee Democrats who said much had changed in the six months since he last testified and took questions from the committee. The request for his appearance came from the committee chairman, Sen. John Warner, R-Va., and the top Democrat, Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan.

Rumsfeld suggested that complaints about his decision could be politically motivated.
(snip/...)

http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs/entretech/feeds/ap/2006/08/02/ap2923536.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Democrats hit Rumsfeld for missing US Iraq hearing
By Will Dunham
20 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Wednesday he will not testify publicly on the Iraq war to a key Senate committee due to a busy schedule, drawing sharp criticism from prominent Democrats.

Rumsfeld, known for frosty relations with some lawmakers, denied he was reluctant to face senators in public, and suggested critics were playing politics.

Rumsfeld will not testify on Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee, charged with overseeing the Pentagon. He said he will meet with senators in a closed session with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and two generals.

New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy (news, bio, voting record) blasted Rumsfeld.

"Avoiding a congressional hearing may take the sting out of the process for Secretary Rumsfeld, but it does nothing to reassure the American people or our men and women in uniform that we have a viable policy in Iraq," Kennedy said.
(snip/...)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060802/pl_nm/iraq_usa_rumsfeld_dc

[Demeter]

9. Subpeona Him

[yourout]

10. Must have had a torture session to oversee or some other....

illegal operation.

[DoYouEverWonder]

11. More torture videos to review

Rummie can't get enough anymore.

[Rex]

12. When you are too scared to put the P and the VP under oath

then why should they...how would Cheney say it? Who gives a fuck what the public thinks. That includes the little fish like Congress.

[acmejack]

13. No kidding, who does this jerk think he is?

He simply is afraid of the hard questions Levin, Kennedy, Clinton & Byrd will ask him. Dayton and the Nelsons could make life difficult too. Even Evan on a good day can get after him. Unfortunately, Oh wait, it's Warner, not pat"roll over" Roberts, Warner may just get pissed Off and serve his sorry butt. PLease...

[bronxiteforever]

14. Ducking the checks and balances again-A dictatorship would

be easier, the GOP says.

[Mnemosyne]

15. K and R n/t

[democrank]

16. Thank the rubber stamp Congress for this.

If Rumsfeld feared or respected those fools, he`d behave differently. He`d have to. What an arrogant POS.

[Mr_Spock]

17. We pay this guys salary? He better fucking answer questions

Who the fuck do these officials think they are anyway?

What an arrogant ass hole.

[grannylib]

18. Rumsferatu can't appear in daylight...

What a chickenshit, just like all the other members of this sorry-assed mis-administration.
Coward. Coward. Coward.

[elehhhhna]

19. Another "unknown unknown": Don's schedule. Ever notice that he's

waaaaaaaaaay to tan to be working indoors at ALL? My hubs is in construction in Houston and HE'S not that tan.

[Jacobin]

23. That?

Oh that's just from the glow of satan's fires that he warms his coldblooded hands over.

:-)

[tinfoilinfor2005]

20. He has junior's full support, no matter what he does.

Why should he be subjected to these things, especially since his boss has said that he doesn't have to explain himself to anyone. :shrug:

[chill_wind]

21. As long as the rivers of American and Iraqi blood keep flowing

he has NO right to hide somewhere deep in the basements of the Pentagon from any of us-- including the families of all the dead troops, the troops he continues to hold hostage in Iraq and the troops he continues to send.

Stories like this make me seriously ponder a notion that all these guys might well have fortified villas already waiting deep in the jungles of South America some place-- and that none of them plan to ever stick around for the wheels of justice here in the United States to sound up- if and when those wheels ever begin to grind, even faintly. I don't don't expect to see them lawfully lend themselves to moral or legal accountability for any of this on any level- ever.

[Eurobabe]

22. too busy cooking up nuking Iran and Syria, no doubt

I hate this little Napoleonic prick. Maybe even more than Bu$hler, asshat is just stupid. Rummy is a conniving, dangerous fuck.

[Vidar]

24. "I'm late, I'm late for a very impotant date.."

[Tight_rope]

25. Rummy the Dummy thinks we are as stupid as he is.

What an arrogant Son-of-Bitch!:spank: We know why he doesn't want to testify. He's afraid the truth might slip outta his crusty lips.

[warrens]

26. He caved

Anyway the news report I heard this morning said that he would show up, screeching and moaning that it's all politics and he's a busy man and blah blah blah.