Don Rumsfeld needs to be fired immediately. Yesterday during a Pentagon briefing he decreed that the press should no longer be referring to the insurgents in Iraq as insurgents. Ever since the end of the invasion in April 2003, the Iraqi’s that have been fighting back against the US occupation have been referred to as insurgents. Now Rumsfeld says:

This is a group of people who don’t merit the word `insurgency,’ I think

According to Dictionary.com an insurgent is defined as:

Rising in revolt against established authority, especially a government.

I suppose that if you consider that neither the current Iraqi government nor the American occupation force might be considered an established authority, then the forces fighting against the American military might not qualify for the term insurgent. Of course by this argument the “Iraqi government” doesn’t qualify for the term either. It seems that the shrub administration thinks it can finally defeat the insurgency by simply redefining them out of existence.

During the same briefing the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Gen. Peter Pace got into a disagreement with Rumsfeld about the mistreatment of prisoners.

A reporter asked Pace what U.S. commanders in Iraq are supposed to do if they find Iraqi forces abusing prisoners. Pace replied that if inhumane treatment is observed it is a service member’s duty to stop it.

“I don’t think you mean they have an obligation to physically stop it _ it’s to report it,” Rumsfeld said, turning to Pace.

Replied the general: “If they are physically present when inhumane treatment is taking place, sir, they have an obligation to try to stop it.”

Don Rumsfeld is a total embarassment and disgrace. The attitude of this asshole permeates down through the ranks and has lead to the abuses that have occured at Gauntanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. It is good to see Gen. Pace standing up to Rumsfeld and saying what is right. He is setting the right example for the troops. Hopefully the troops will hear these words and know it alright to do the right thing and not follow illegal orders. It is never right to torture and abuse prisoners. It is also counter productive. When your enemies hear about these practises it just hardens them against you. Just look at the situation in Israel and Palestine. The Israeli’s have been torturing Palestinian prisoners for decades and it has not stopped the violence there. US and Iraqi troops have been torturing prisoners for the last three years and the insurgency has only gotten worse over time. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and all their cronies need to be removed from office and put on trial for war crimes. America needs to cleansed of this plague.