More from Woodward: Andy Card Urged Bush to Replace Rumsfeld

[sabra]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/29/AR2006092900368.html

Card Urged Bush to Replace Rumsfeld, Woodward Says

Former White House chief of staff Andrew Card on two occasions tried and failed to persuade President Bush to fire Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, according to a new book by Bob Woodward that depicts senior officials of the Bush administration as unable to face the consequences of their policy in Iraq.

Card made his first attempt after Bush was re-elected in November, 2004, arguing that the administration needed a fresh start and recommending that Bush replace Rumsfeld with former secretary of state James A. Baker III. Woodward writes that Bush considered the move, but was persuaded by Vice President Cheney and Karl Rove, his chief political adviser, that it would be seen as an expression of doubt about the course of the war and would expose Bush himself to criticism.

Card tried again around Thanksgiving, 2005, this time with the support of First Lady Laura Bush, who according to Woodward, felt that Rumsfeld's overbearing manner was damaging to her husband. Bush refused for a second time, and Card left the administration last March, convinced that Iraq would be compared to Vietnam and that history would record that no senior administration officials had raised their voices in opposition to the conduct of the war.

[Orrex]

1. Woodward can go screw himself

He's as guilty as anyone in the media, and maybe moreso, of fostering the image of Bush as a strong leader. Anything that comes out of Woodward thereafter must be taken with a grain of salt.

All the President's Men was a long time ago...

[hlthe2b]

2. Yes, but let him continue to try his Bush*-revealing mea culpas...

I don't have to forgive him, but he can certainly keep on trying...!

[zbdent]

3. Does Woodward cover the part where, according to Rumsfeld,

he offered up his resignation (twice) to Bush, who denied him ... gee, if you want to leave a job, you actually can resign, even if the boss doesn't like it ...

:eyes: