Rumsfeld refuses to admit that shutting down the wargaming of the Afghanistan and Iraq operations the moment the "enemy" was "defeated" was an error. The issue was raised at the time, and the officers who did were told to shut up or get canned. Powell made the point, and that was his exit signal.
Every gaming of those situations that was unofficially done showed that more troops were needed to avoid quagmires. They also showed that serious infrastructure and humanitarian aid would have helped immensely, especially if it were in the form of cash given to local leadership to spend as they pleased on domestic projects.
Rumsfeld didn't want to hear it. To him, once the Taliban was gone, Afghanistan was a success; once Baghdad had fallen, Iraq was golden.
Moron. Traitorous moron.
Well, Obama listens to the generals; Rumsfeld listened to Rumsfeld, and maybe to Cheney. Obama asks what consequences will be down the line, Rumsfeld lives in a fantasy land where when the hero knocks down the "bad guy", they all live happily ever after. Obama looks ahead, Rumsfeld canned people for trying to.
Sharp comparison: Rumsfeld was cheerleader for invading a country that hadn't done a thing to us, when no one wanted us there. Obama somewhat reluctantly moved to assist people engaged in taking charge of their own lives, with the proviso that we will not be putting "boots on the ground".
So -- yeah: Obama makes war, it's good; Rumsfeld makes war, be prepared to have problems for years.
