Bush Stands Behind his Man

Bush says that they're doing what they can to address the shortage of equipment in Iraq, and that he doesn't blame the troops for the tough qustion of Rumsfeld yesterday in Kuwait.

How gracious of him.

I post this for those of you who have been eagerly awaiting to find out what Bush would say in light of the harsh questioning Rumsfeld received yesterday, and the concern over his answers to those questions. Would Bush come out on the side of the troops, and finally call his man to carpet for sending the Army "lite" over to invade Iraq? Well...not exactly.

He told reporters in an Oval Office event that he has been telling military families that "we're doing everything we possibly can to protect your loved ones in a mission which is vital and important."

He means, other then sending them to fight in Iraq without vital equipment they need.

Referring to one of the soldiers who had the balls to ask Rummy to his face why they have to dig up scrap for armo, Rummy had this to say:

"I don't know what the facts are but somebody's certainly going to sit down with him and find out what he knows that they may not know, and make sure he knows what they know that he may not know, and that's a good thing. I think it's a very constructive exchange," Rumsfeld told reporters traveling with him on Thursday in India, another stop on his regional tour.

That somebody being his commander officer perhaps, having a constructive exchange about the merits of keeping one's tough question to oneself?

Honestly I'm not sure why Rumsfeld agreed to to do this in the first place. He's either so out of touch with reality that he really thought all the troops would cheer and whoop it up for him, or something broke down in the process of keeping them compliant for his appearance. It's obvious nothing good for the administration could come out of giving these troops a chance to honestly express their views.