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http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/new ... 981318.htm
Iraq patrol told Rummy is gone, barely blinksBy C.J. CHIVERS
New York Times News Service
ZAGARIT, Iraq — Hashim al-Menti smiled wanly at the Marine sergeant beside him on his couch. The sergeant had appeared in the darkness Wednesday night, knocking on the door of al-Menti's home.
When al-Menti answered, a squad of infantrymen swiftly moved in, making him an involuntary host.
Since then Marines had been on his roof with rifles, watching roads where insurgents often plant bombs.
Al-Menti had passed the time watching television. Now he had news. He spoke in broken English. "Rumsfeld is gone," he told the sergeant, Michael A. McKinnon.
"Democracy," he added, and made a thumbs-up sign.
"Good."
The Marines had been on a continuous foot patrol for several days, hunting for insurgents. They were lost in the hard and isolating rhythms of infantry life.
They knew nothing of the week's news.
Now they were being told by an Iraqi whose house they occupied that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, one of the principal architects of the policies that had them here, had resigned. "Rumsfeld is gone?" the sergeant asked. "Really?"
Al-Menti nodded. "This is better for Iraq," he said. "Iraqi people say thank you."
The sergeant went upstairs to tell his Marines, just as he had informed them the day before that the Republican Party had lost control of the House of Representatives and that Congress was in the midst of sweeping change. Al-Menti had told them that, too.
"Rumsfeld's out," he said to five Marines sprawled with rifles on the cold floor.
Lance Cpl. James L. Davis Jr. looked up from his cigarette. "Who's Rumsfeld?" he asked.
If history is any guide, many of the young men who endure the severest hardships and assume the greatest risks in the war in Iraq will become interested in politics and politicians later, when they are older and look back on their combat tours.
But not yet. Marine infantry units have traditionally been nonpolitical, to the point of stubbornly embracing a peculiar detachment from policy currents at home. It is a pillar of the corps' martial culture: Those with the most at stake are among the least involved in the decisions that send them where they go.
Rumsfeld may have become one of the war's most polarizing figures at home. But among these young Marines slogging through the war in Anbar Province, he appeared to mean almost nothing. If he was another casualty, they have seen worse.
"Rumsfeld is the secretary of defense," McKinnon said, answering Davis' question.
Davis simply cursed. *
Rumsfeld Quits
Rumsfeld Quits -
11-08-2006, 11:47 AM
Linear Mode
