As you know, we went to war with the Defense Secretary we had.  He was not the Defense Secretary we might want or wish to have.       ~~~~~It would be prudent if he were removed.  tmf

"Rumsfeld has been contemptuous of the views of senior military officers since the day he walked in as secretary of defense. It's about time they got sick and tired," Thomas E. White, the former Army secretary.  [And the opposition to Rumsfeld is widespread.]  There's Lt. General Gregory Newbold, retired director of operations at the Pentagon's military joint staff; Paul D. Eaton who served in Iraq and trained the Iraqi army; former general Anthony Zinni; and retired Army Maj. Gen. John Batiste, who wouldn't take another star to stay in Iraq because of Rummy; now Maj. Gen. Charles Swannack joins them. (Also see Batiste's interviews on the morning shows.)  That's an impressive group, but you can't forget the Fighting Dems either. Over 50 veterans of both the Iraq and Vietnam wars who are running as Democrats in 2006 because of the Iraq war. http://www.taylormarsh.com/

CBS News military analyst Jeff McCausland:  (a retired Army colonel)  I know all these guys, and they are very apolitical
        people. I think they have no particular aspirations that they're trying to achieve by now criticizing the Secretary."  

                                                                        Quotes from military professionals:

 Major General Charles Swannack: "We need  a new secretary of Defense." 


MICHAEL J.N. BOWLES FOR TIME
Marine Lieutenant General Greg Newbold:  called Iraq an "unnecessary war."  We need fresh ideas and fresh faces. That means, as a first step, replacing Rumsfeld and many others unwilling to fundamentally change their approach.   "I now regret that I did not more openly challenge those who were determined to invade a country whose actions were peripheral to the real threat — Al Qaeda."  The decision to invade Iraq, he wrote, "was done with a casualness and swagger that are the special province of those who have never had to execute these missions — or bury the results."
Major General Paul Eaton:  Rumsfeld is "incompetent strategically, operationally, and tactically." 
 Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is not competent to lead our armed forces. First, his failure to build coalitions with our allies from what he dismissively called "old Europe" has imposed far greater demands and risks on our soldiers in Iraq than necessary. Second, he alienated his allies in our own military, ignoring the advice of seasoned officers and denying subordinates any chance for input.  In sum, he has shown himself incompetent strategically, operationally and tactically, and is far more than anyone else responsible for what has happened to our important mission in Iraq. Mr. Rumsfeld must step down.
Major General John Riggs:  He had his colleagues believe Rumsfeld and his close aides "should be cleared out."  Rumsfeld ''should step aside and let someone step in who can be more realistic," he said.  Of the Pentagon's civilian leadership, Riggs said, ''They only need the military advice when it satisfies their agenda."

General Norman Schwarzkopf: thinks Rumsfeld and the people around him lack the background to make sound military judgments.  Rumsfeld worries him. "It's scary, okay?" he says. "Let's face it: There are guys at the Pentagon who have been involved in operational planning for their entire lives, okay? . . . And for this wisdom, acquired during many operations, wars, schools, for that just to be ignored, and in its place have somebody who doesn't have any of that training, is of concern."
Marine General Anthony Zinni: said Rumsfeld should retire.  The former commander of U.S. forces in the
Middle East, called on Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other Bush officials to resign for making a
"series of disastrous mistakes” in Iraq.   Watch it: http://www.thinkprogress.org/2006/04/02/zinni-rumsfeld/

Lt. Gen. Wallace Gregson:
who until last year commanded Marine forces in the Pacific Theater, said "A lot of them are hugely frustrated," in part because Rumsfeld gave the impression that "military advice was neither required nor desired" in the planning for the Iraq war."

General Barry McCaffrey, warned that Rumsfeld, in his zeal to "transform" the military into a "leaner, meaner" global force, was dangerously overstretching the US Army, particularly in Iraq.   "The enterprise was badly launched," McCaffrey wrote. The U.S. invasion "left a nation without an operational State." Rumsfeld's "overwhelmed, under-resourced" appointees were feckless in filling that void. Mistakes were made with alacrity, but effective corrections seemed to take forever. A year passed before the United States began serious and effective training of new security forces for Iraq --
       indeed, the United States transferred sovereignty to a provisional Iraqi government in June 2004 without any competent Iraqi military
       or police units to defend that government. In the meantime, Iraq devolved into "a weak state of warring factions."
General Eric Shinseki:  presciently warned before the war how many troops would be needed to occupy Iraq after an invasion.  Shinseki told Congress that several hundred thousand troops would be needed - a proposal that clashed with Rumsfeld's vision of a smaller, leaner military.  Rumsfeld and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz - who, like other top Pentagon civilians in the Bush administration have never  served in combat - dismissed the former army chief of staff. Gen. Eric Shinseki, the former Army chief of staff, spoke truth to power and got slammed for his troubles.  The General Who Got It Right on Iraq
Major General John Batiste: The retired commander of key forces in Iraq called for Donald Rumsfeld to step down.  "Rumsfeld should step down because he ignored sound military advice."  Batiste noted that many of his peers feel the same way.  "We  also served under a secretary of defense who didn't understand leadership, who was abusive, who was arrogant, who didn't build a strong team," Batiste added.
Gen. Wesley K. Clark
former NATO Supreme Allied Commander is the latest retired officer to call for the resignation of Mr. Rumsfeld.

            A Short (and far from comprehensive) list of others who feel Mr. Rumsfeld is incapable of doing his job... 

Rep. Charles Rangel, added his voice to the choir. "It's with a heavy heart that I come here to demand Don Rumsfeld's resignation,"
Robert Kagan and William Kristol make the too few troops argument in the April 26 Weekly Standard and call on Rumsfeld to resign
Sen. John F. Kerry, Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., & House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi say Rumsfeld should go
Robert Novak, Max Boot and Thomas Friedman have encouraged Mr. Rumsfeld to resign.
Veteran Al Gore said that "the nation is especially at risk every single day that Rumsfeld remains as secretary of defense."
Trent Lott:  "I am not a fan of Secretary Rumsfeld. I don't think he listens to his uniformed officers."
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy said to Mr. Rumsfeld  "Isn't it time for you to resign?"
Jack Kelly, a former Marine and Reagan-era Pentagon official:  called for Rumsfeld to resign
Union officials representing more than 200,000 civilian defense workers issued a vote of no-confidence in Defense Secretary
       Donald H. Rumsfeld and called on him to step down. (first time federal workers have called for a defense secretary to resign)
The Economist   has been urging the US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, to resign for some time
The Nation:  The Defense Secretary should resign--now.  "There is not a lot of debate anymore about the fact that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is the loosest cannon in the arsenal."
Los Angeles Times:  He should resign. Immediately.
Representative John Murtha:  said that Rumsfeld should resign  "he should offer his resignation"
Speaker of the House Jim McDermott:    It is time for Rumsfeld to go
The Army Times, called for both Rumsfeld and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Richard Myers, to step down
Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, a decorated Vietnam veteran and member of the Armed Services Committee, said in a TV interview
        on the CBS network: "It's still in question whether ... Rumsfeld and, quite frankly, General Myers can command the respect and the
        trust and the confidence of the military,"
New York Times : "Mr Bush should start showing the state of his own heart by demanding the resignation of his secretary of defense."  
Brian Cloughley writes on military and political affairs. He can be reached through his website www.briancloughley.com  "Only after
       he gets rid of Rumsfeld can there be a clean-up of the Pentagon's weirdos. Rumsfeld must go."
Nancy Pelosi and MoveOn.org--are calling for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's resignation.
The Weekly Standard: Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld famously talks about preparing for the "unknown unknowns." Yet the present crisis was hardly unforeseeable, and Rumsfeld did not ensure that the military was prepared to deal with it. He failed to put in place in Iraq a force big enough to handle the challenges at hand. That is a significant failure.  ... If (the) current secretary of defense cannot make the adjustments that are necessary, the president should find one who will.
Sen. Richard J. Durbin a member of the intelligence panel, said on CNN that Rumsfeld, "for the good of this nation, needs to step forward and say, 'As an important act to show we are changing courses.... I am stepping down.
 Boston.com: Failing to hold Rumsfeld accountable for actions under his command responsibility compounds the grave harm already done to America's reputation. ... Rumsfeld should accept responsibility for gross mismanagement of the Iraqi occupation and resign.
Congressman Marty Meehan:  senior member House Armed Services Committee:  “I am appalled that Secretary Rumsfeld would mislead our troops.  Even more outrageous than sending soldiers into combat without the proper protective equipment is offering them false excuses.  Secretary Rumsfeld has lost the last of his credibility.  President Bush should dismiss him immediately.”