Gates cracking skulls

[8ballrollin]

(Posted this on CB too)

I wonder (hindsight being 20/20) how different things could be in Iraq if someone like Gates had been brought in two years ago.

"Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Harvey had resigned. But senior defense officials speaking on condition of anonymity said Gates had asked Harvey to leave. Gates was displeased that Harvey, after firing Maj. Gen. George Weightman as the head of Walter Reed, chose to name as Weightman's temporary replacement another general whose role in the controversy was still in question."

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2007/03/02/D8NK9F000.html

[MikeWaters]

Put an Aggie in charge of the military?!! (TIC)

Yes, accountability means something.

But how can you enforce it, when the POTUS doesn't really believe in it?

I think that has been Bush's biggest failing in this mess. That we refused to tell the American people the truth, when the truth was so obvious. That things were going poorly, and that the management had been poor.

[UtahDan]

Originally Posted by 8ballrollin

(Posted this on CB too)

I wonder (hindsight being 20/20) how different things could be in Iraq if someone like Gates had been brought in two years ago.

"Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Harvey had resigned. But senior defense officials speaking on condition of anonymity said Gates had asked Harvey to leave. Gates was displeased that Harvey, after firing Maj. Gen. George Weightman as the head of Walter Reed, chose to name as Weightman's temporary replacement another general whose role in the controversy was still in question."

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2007/03/02/D8NK9F000.html

Its like college sports. Sure it feels great in the short run to make heads roll when you have been failing. Much harder to find the replacement to fix it, however.

[8ballrollin]

Originally Posted by UtahDan

Its like college sports. Sure it feels great in the short run to make heads roll when you have been failing. Much harder to find the replacement to fix it, however.

I'm not so sure. I'm not saying it's easy to solve difficult problems, but there has to be ownership of problems and accountability for results.

If you are the VP of a division at GE and your LOB constantly struggle under your management, you will be fired. They will find someone to take you place who understands the seriousness of the issue and tries new ways to solve it.

I wish Bush had fired Rums at the start of his second term.

Results matter.

"The graveyards are full of indispensable men."

[UtahDan]

Originally Posted by 8ballrollin

I'm not so sure. I'm not saying it's easy to solve difficult problems, but there has to be ownership of problems and accountability for results.

If you are the VP of a division at GE and your LOB constantly struggle under your management, you will be fired. They will find someone to take you place who understands the seriousness of the issue and tries new ways to solve it.

I wish Bush had fired Rums at the start of his second term.

Results matter.

"The graveyards are full of indispensable men."

I agree that results matter, I'm just saying that GE could take all of its top people and charge them with building a time machine and no matter how many division heads you fired you wouldn't be any closer to having your time machine. I agree about Rumsfeld BTW.

[Detroitdad]

Originally Posted by 8ballrollin

I'm not so sure. I'm not saying it's easy to solve difficult problems, but there has to be ownership of problems and accountability for results.

If you are the VP of a division at GE and your LOB constantly struggle under your management, you will be fired. They will find someone to take you place who understands the seriousness of the issue and tries new ways to solve it.

I wish Bush had fired Rums at the start of his second term.

Results matter.

"The graveyards are full of indispensable men."

Anyone is an improvement on Rumsfeld for this job. I miss Rummy and his wonderful use of the English language but he was a dreadful secretary, at least as it comes to Iraq.

Having said that I am not sure that the best defense secretary in the world could have put enough lipstick on this pig to make it look like something other than a sordid mess.