WASHINGTON, Nov 5: US military newspapers will urge the Bush administration on Monday to sack Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
The demand is part of an editorial which will appear in the Army Times, Air Force Times, Navy Times, and Marine Corps Times on Monday, although its main points have already been released to other media outlets.
"It is one thing for the majority of Americans to think Rumsfeld has failed. But when the nation's current military leaders start to break publicly with their defence secretary, then it is clear that he is losing control of the institution he ostensibly leads,” the editorial argues.
The editorial will appear just one day before the midterm election, in which Republican candidates have been losing ground. But the authors of the editorial said that their position on Mr Rumsfeld has nothing to do with the elections.
"This is not about the midterm elections. Regardless of which party wins Nov 7, the time has come, Mr President, to face the hard bruising truth: Donald Rumsfeld must go,” the editorial continued.
All the newspapers that are scheduled to publish the editorial are part of the Military Times Media Group, a subsidiary of the Gannett Co., Inc. The publications are sold to service members and their families.
On Wednesday, President Bush had said he wants Mr Rumsfeld and Vice-president Dick Cheney to remain in his administration until the end of his presidency, extending a vote of confidence to two of the most-criticized members of his team.
But Democrats and Republicans alike have called for Mr Rumsfeld's resignation, arguing he has mishandled the war in Iraq, where over 2,800 members of the US military have died since the US-led invasion in March 2003.
Mr Bush, however, credited Mr Rumsfeld with overseeing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan while overhauling the military. "I'm pleased with the progress we're making," the president said.
The editorial also painted a grim view of the situation in Iraq, saying, "despite the best efforts of American trainers, the problem of moulding a viciously sectarian population into anything resembling a force for national unity has become a losing proposition. For two years, American sergeants, captains and majors training the Iraqis have told their bosses that Iraqi troops have no sense of national identity, are only in it for the money, don't show up for duty and cannot sustain themselves. … And all along, Rumsfeld has assured us that things are well in hand."
