WaPo editorial: Mr. Rumsfeld's Flawed Vision

Some legacy DEFENSE SECRETARY Donald H. Rumsfeld, whose failures in Iraq and in prisoner detention should have led to his departure long ago, reportedly clung to his position in part to oversee the comprehensive defense review that the Pentagon conducts every four years. ~ But Mr. Rumsfeld's Quadrennial Defense Review, delivered last week in sync with the Pentagon's budget proposal for fiscal 2007, is a disappointment. While it envisions a partial adjustment of the armed forces to what it calls "the long war," it dodges almost all the hard decisions that Mr. Rumsfeld should have made. ~ Though he no longer proposes a downsizing and is overseeing a brigade reorganization that should free up more troops for conflicts such as Iraq, the secretary's plan would hold the Army to the same size it was before Sept. 11, eliminating the temporary increase of 30,000 troops for Iraq forced by pressure from Congress. Mr. Rumsfeld essentially proposes to reinforce and perpetuate the greatest single mistake of his tenure, which was failing to deploy enough soldiers to win the wars the United States has taken on. Congress should not allow him to inflict this damage.