Wisconsin congressman asks Bush to oust defense leaders

MADISON (AP) -- A congressman from Wisconsin has asked President Bush to call for the resignations of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, saying they have so mishandled the war in Iraq that they should quit.

"I recommend that you allow the secretary of defense and deputy secretary of defense to return to the private sector," wrote U.S. Rep. Dave Obey, the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee.

The 18-term congressman said he thought long and hard before writing the letter, realizing that it's a serious matter to suggest to a president that a member of his Cabinet should leave.

But he said he concluded it was necessary, after talking with defense and diplomatic experts and people in his district.

Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz "have made repeated and serious miscalculations, miscalculations that have been extremely costly to the American people in terms of lives lost, degradation of our military and intelligence capability to defend against terrorists in countries outside Iraq, isolation from our traditional allies and unexpected demands on our budget that are crowding our other priorities," Obey wrote.

In an interview with The Capital Times of Madison, Obey went further, calling Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz "raving romantics" who let their plans for Iraq trump the wise counsel of many in the military and intelligence communities.

"They had wildly romantic ideas about how easy it was going to be to turn Iraq into the second coming of New Hampshire in terms of democracy," said Obey, D-Wausau.

He said during a visit home during the House recess in August, he heard venom aimed at an American president unlike anything he had ever heard.

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Wisconsin congressman asks Bush to oust defense leaders

MADISON (AP) -- A congressman from Wisconsin has asked President Bush to call for the resignations of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, saying they have so mishandled the war in Iraq that they should quit.