Clinton: Rumsfeld should quit

BY GLENN THRUSH | Newsday Washington Bureau

August 4, 2006

WASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has been forced to defend her continued support of the Iraq war to fellow Democrats, distanced herself from Bush administration war policy yesterday by calling for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's resignation.

"I just don't understand why we can't get new leadership that would give us a fighting chance to turn the situation around before it's too late," the New York Democrat told The Associated Press.

"I think the president should choose to accept Secretary Rumsfeld's resignation ... The secretary has lost credibility with the Congress and with the people ... It's time for him to step down."

A Pentagon spokesman had no comment about Clinton's resignation call.

Hours earlier, Clinton grilled Rumsfeld during an Armed Services Committee hearing, prompting the secretary to mutter, "Oh my goodness."

Rumsfeld initially said he was too busy to attend yesterday's hearing. But he reversed course Wednesday after Clinton sent him a letter saying he needed to explain himself to the American people.

Like a prizefighter, Clinton smiled and shook hands with Rumsfeld before attacking his policies. "You did not go into Iraq with enough troops," said Clinton, ticking off her grievances. "You disbanded the entire Iraqi army ... You underestimated the nature and strength of the insurgency, the sectarian violence and the spread of Iranian influence."

Clinton, who voted for the October 2002 resolution authorizing the Iraq invasion, has been under fire by some Democrats for her pro-war stance. She has recently softened her support of the war and burnished her party credentials by attacking Rumsfeld and President George W. Bush.

" . . . You are presiding over a failed policy," she said. "Given your track record, Secretary Rumsfeld, why should we believe your assurances now?"

"Senator, I don't think that's true," he responded. "I have never painted a rosy picture ... You'd have a dickens of a time trying to find instances where I've been excessively optimistic."