by TChris

The heat on Donald Rumsfeld would make a less self-righteous man sweat. It's embarassing to be publicly criticized by another Republican, but Rummy can dismiss John McCain's complaints on the ground that McCain is a maverick politician. Besides, McCain is careful to express "enormous admiration" for Rumsfeld even as he complains that Rummy underestimated the number of ground troops needed to restore and maintain order in Iraq.

Rumsfeld should find criticism less easy to dismiss when it comes from a man who spent 39 years in the military: retired Marine General Anthony Zinni, the former commander of the U.S. Central Command.

Zinni wondered aloud yesterday how Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld could be caught off guard by the chaos in Iraq that has killed nearly 100 Americans in recent weeks and led to his announcement that 20,000 U.S. troops would be staying there instead of returning home as planned.

Zinni says he's warned decision-makers for years that Iraq would become more dangerous to American interests without Saddam Hussein. He thinks "heads should roll over Iraq." As entertaining as the sight of a headless Rummy might be, this administration refuses to make accountability a part of the game plan, and never admits it erred.