Too Little, Too Late

Dec. 5, 2006 — -- If you look up "too little, too late" in the dictionary now, you will find Don Rumsfeld's Nov. 6 memo.

So, 3½ years into the war and two days before he got fired, the secretary of defense had a political deathbed conversion and thought it might be a good idea to change course in Iraq.

Is that supposed to impress me?

I'll tell you what this reminds me of as an old-school Steelers fan.

After Pittsburgh quarterback Neil O'Donnell threw three interceptions in the Super Bowl, he realized that it might have been a good idea to throw to his own team instead.

You don't say? There's some chance that the damage had been done.

I heard it suggested that perhaps we should give Don Rumsfeld another chance. If the Republicans like losing elections -- and wars -- they might want to give that a shot.

So, Don Rumsfeld suggests that perhaps we should redeploy troops to neighboring allies like Kuwait.

I liked that idea when I heard it from Jack Murtha about a year ago. If Republicans are enamored with that plan now, no problem. I'm pretty sure we could get Murtha confirmed pretty easily in the forthcoming Congress.

Here's how much credit Rumsfeld should get for finally considering alternatives to his horrendous plan nearly four years into a war we are badly losing: Absolutely none. Zero credit. Not even a scintilla.

Who expects credit for losing to Iraq and then realizing it four years too late? Are we having a serious discussion about this?

The man is the most incompetent, arrogant and ineffective secretary of defense this country has ever had. Why would any rational person give a damn what he thought?

There was a "Seinfeld" episode where George Costanza realized all of his instincts were dead wrong, and he decided that he should do the exact opposite of what his gut told him.

He wound up having great success with it. The only purpose Rumsfeld could serve now is if we used him as a Costanza bellwether. Whatever he says, do the opposite.

Don Rumsfeld told Gen.Tommy Franks that six months after the invasion we would only need 30,000 troops in Iraq.

Don Rumsfeld said the war "could last, you know, six days, six weeks. I doubt six months."

Don Rumsfeld said he knew that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, and he knew where they were:

Cenk Uygur is host of "The Young Turks" on Air America Radio.