The DNC head released this statement the other day on the resignation of Secretary Rumsfeld:
I am glad that President Bush has finally listened to the growing chorus of retired Generals, civilian leaders and Democrats who long ago called for Secretary Rumsfeld's resignation. This is a good first step but the American people have spoken and it must be followed by a real change in direction in Iraq and in America's foreign policy by the President. Democrats are united and ready to get to work with Republicans to find real solutions to the challenges we are facing in Iraq. Our brave troops fighting in harm's way deserve nothing less.
Here's what a "chorus of retired" officers told the Democrats about what our troops "deserve" when they spoke before the Senate Democratic Policy Committee in September. As the Washington Post's Dana Milbank noted, they delivered a message the Democrats didn't want to hear.
But Democrats, while celebrating Batiste's criticism of the administration, exercised some selective listening at the hearing when Batiste and his colleagues offered their solution: more troops, more money and more time in Iraq. "We must mobilize our country for a protracted challenge," Batiste warned. "We better be planning for at least a minimum of a decade or longer," contributed retired Marine Col. Thomas Hammes. "We are, conservatively, 60,000 soldiers short," added retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, who was in charge of building the Iraqi Security Forces. That last remark caused Schumer to shake his head, indicating he was not so sure. And, indeed, the retired officers' recommendations were off-message for the Democrats. Six of the seven Democrats at the hearing supported legislation calling for the start of a troop withdrawal from Iraq this year. One, Richard Durbin (Ill.), voted for the pullout to be mostly complete by next summer.
In post-election Washington, it sure doesn't sound like the Democrats "listened" to what these officers had to say.