Those who have been calling for the political life of US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld may soon get their man. It seems Rummy, as he is known to his detractors, failed to personally sign letters of condolence to the families of soldiers who laid down their lives in Iraq.
Retired US colonel David Hackworth first broke the story on the Soldiers for the Truth site late last month. Stars and Stripes carries the full text of Rumsfeld's statement on the matter: "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."
Soldiers have proved a difficult issue lately for the man in charge at the Pentagon. Earlier this month he underwent an uncomfortable Q&A session with soldiers in Kuwait, demanding to know why they were searching for scrap metal to armour up their vehicles before heading into combat. Others wanted to know when the military's stop-loss programme - a draft of those already enlisted - would, well, stop. Comforting answers were not forthcoming, but Sgt Chris Missick, who attended the speech and wrote about it on his warblog, felt much of the media missed out on the fact that many soldiers felt honoured to have the secretary of defence address them and take the time to answer questions.
Of course, Rumsfeld has long had difficulty expressing himself, so a certain amount of respect must be due for standing up and taking soldiers' questions with no pre-screening. Slate set some of the defence secretary's most rambled musings into verse, celebrating his poetic qualities, if not his power to enlighten the press corps as to what he might be on about.
Consider the offering from a February 2003 defence department briefing:
I think what you'll find,
I think what you'll find is,
Whatever it is we do substantively,
There will be near-perfect clarity
As to what it is.
And it will be known,
And it will be known to the Congress,
And it will be known to you,
Probably before we decide it,
But it will be known.
Do you think he'd do a signed copy?
