MU has mixed reactions to Rumsfeld resignation

Texas A&M president Robert Gates will replace Rumsfeld.

By James Patrick Schmidt

Published Nov. 14, 2006

The day after the Nov. 7 election that made Republicans the Congressional minority, the White House made a change of policy with the resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

President George Bush announced that he would appoint Robert Gates, president of Texas A&M University and former director of the CIA, to replace Rumsfeld.

College Republicans President Tyson Mutrux, said he thinks that this was not the time for Rumsfeld to resign.

"If the Republicans had held control of the House and Senate, there is no way he'd be asked to leave," Mutrux said. "I don't agree with the timing. I believe he was asked to resign."

Although Mutrux expressed mixed emotions about Rumsfeld's resignation, he said that Gates will bring a healthy change to the administration.

"I'm sure he's got his own philosophy on how Iraq should be dealt with," Mutrux said. "The longer he is in office, the more drastic the changes will be."

College Democrats President Nate Kennedy doubts that the change in leadership will bring any changes.

"I don't think that Rumsfeld is really out of the White House," Kennedy said. "He's still in the inner circle. Gates will just be a new face and a puppet with no real power or plan."

Kennedy also thinks, as Mutrux does, that Rumsfeld's resignation is directly related to the results of the midterm elections.

"The administration is taking Rumsfeld out now, after the election, for damage control," Kennedy said. "The administration was waiting on the outcome of the election to make the decision. Had the Democrats not taken Congress, Rumsfeld would still be in power."

Political science professor A. Cooper Drury said Gates would be able to use his history to improve the operation of the Defense Department.

"I think we get more innovative policies and innovative approaches at finding solutions in Iraq and Afghanistan with Gates serving as Secretary of Defense," Drury said. "I think Gates is a good choice. He is somebody who has a career in foreign policy. He worked his way up in the CIA."

Drury cited the importance of cooperation and communication between the department and the CIA.

"During the H.W. Bush presidency, there was a weekly breakfast between the Department of Defense and CIA, and that was dropped in the Clinton administration and not picked up again when G.W. Bush took office," Drury said.

Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., released a statement Wednesday following the resignation supporting Bush's appointee.

"The president made a good choice in Robert Gates, a tested leader who has worked to defend the United States before during his tenure at the CIA," Bond stated in the release. "A change in our secretary of defense will not change our policy of fighting radical Islam, including denying terrorists a safe haven in Iraq."

Bond also offered praise to Rumsfeld in the statement.

"Secretary Rumsfeld deserves to be thanked for his dedicated service to our country," the release stated. "He is a patriot who served our country with honor during challenging times."

Drury said he thinks that the decision for Rumsfeld to resign was made before the midterm elections, and not in reaction to them.

"I think it's more likely that the decision was probably made at least a few days in advance, if not a few weeks in advance, that there was going to be a change," Drury said.