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Rumsfeld's resignation won't appease Arabs
To the Editor,
In a recent article by Ellen Goldbaum regarding the much-covered abuse of Iraqi prisoners by a dozen or so U.S. guards in one prison in Iraq, Professor Mutua of the Law School called for the resignation of Secretary of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld. Professor Mutua certainly has a right to speculate and to call for anyone's resignation that he would like. However, Rumsfeld's resignation would be more to satisfy disgruntled partisans in the U.S. who have opposed the Bush administration from the beginning than to mollify Arab sensibilities.
There is, at this point, no evidence of any wrong-doing on the part of Secretary Rumsfeld. Any reasonable person giving this matter a second's thought would realize that Rumsfeld would not abide this activity. It was patently stupid and counter-productive to the war effort, both at home and abroad. The investigation reported to the Senate Armed Services Committee in its open and televised sessions indicates that the problem was quite localized and that there was no policy of abuse coming from Washington. Moreover, once the abuse was reported, the proper investigative and judicial processes were initiated.
As heinous, as stupid, and as counter-productive as the mistreatment of the Iraqi prisoners was, we should also not lose our perspective. The U.S. is fighting a despicable enemy in Iraq and Afghanistan. The mass graves, the celebration of 9/11 in parts of the Arab world, the disgusting mutilation of captured American soldiers and the gruesome beheading of Nick Berg by a leader of al-Qaida should remind everyone of what we are up against. Secretary Rumsfeld remains an important leader in this war.
Finally and frankly, after all that has happened, the Arab world has more reason to be concerned about how they are seen by us than we have to be about how we are seen by them.
Sincerely,
James E. Campbell
Professor
Department of Political Science