according to rummy the dummy
By Rumsfeld's Standards, Mission Accomplished
By Al Kamen
Monday, March 27, 2006; Page A13
P resident Bush 's comment last week that U.S. troops would be in Iraq three more years provoked some consternation. Bush had always said the troops would be there until "the job is done and not a day longer," but few assumed that the troops would remain through his presidency.
Actually, Bush is being way too pessimistic. On April 9, 2003, three weeks after the invasion of Iraq, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld clearly set out the 10 objectives to be achieved "before victory can be declared."
· "Baghdad is in the process of being liberated" and the Hussein regime must be run out of there and other cities, he said. Check -- been run out of just about everywhere at least once.
· "We still must capture [or] account for . . . Saddam Hussein and his sons and the senior Iraqi leadership." Check.
· "We still must find and ensure the safe return of prisoners of war . . . in this war as well as any still held from the last Gulf War." Check -- save for one missing soldier.
· "We still must secure the northern oil fields." Check -- although the pipelines keep getting hit.
· "We still need to find and secure Iraq's weapons of mass destruction facilities. . . ." Check -- they are tightly secured.". . . and secure Iraq's borders so we can prevent the flow of weapons of mass destruction materials and senior regime officials out of the country." Check -- no outward flow.
· "We need to locate Iraqi scientists with knowledge of these programs." Check.
· "We must also capture or kill the terrorists still operating in Iraq and prevent them from gaining access to weapons of mass destruction." Check -- at least for those there in '03 and none are getting access to that WMD.
· "We must locate Baath Party members, records and weapons caches," records of elite intelligence and military units and regime millions outside the country. Check.
· "And we must begin the process of working with free Iraqis . . . and those returning home from exile, to establish an Iraqi interim authority and help to pave the way for a new Iraqi government." Check -- done that several times now.