Kerry asks Bush to replace Rumsfeld

12/05/2005 @ 1:01 pm

Filed by RAW STORY

WASHINGTON: Senator John Kerry (D - Mass.) made the following statement, issued to RAW STORY, following Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s speech this morning on Iraq. Rumors are circulating that Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) could be tapped to replace Rumsfeld.

 “Secretary Rumsfeld today sent dangerous mixed signals about Iraq. Does the Defense Secretary really just throw up his hands and accept that on-going terrorist attacks are inevitable in Iraq for the foreseeable future? Is he now admitting that the Bush Administration's mistakes have made Iraq what it was not before the war, a haven for terrorists?

“The President owes it to our troops serving in Iraq to remove Secretary Rumsfeld and replace him at the Pentagon with a Defense Secretary who understands the situation on the ground in Iraq and who will advance, not undermine, American values around the world.

“Brave American troops are serving heroically under very difficult circumstances. Time and again, they have been put in greater danger by the mistakes of this Secretary of Defense who refuses to tell the truth about what is happening in Iraq and pushes aside anyone who dares speak truth to power. The mistakes are stacked one upon another. The Pentagon is reported to be paying Iraqi newspapers to carry ghostwritten news stories, undermining American credibility. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff had to publicly correct Secretary Rumsfeld because he didn't think American troops had an obligation to stop torture.

“We need a fresh start at the Pentagon for the good of American troops, so brave Americans stop paying the terrible price of this Defense Secretary's mistakes.”