There has been some discussion of these outspoken generals in the last while:

Retired Major General John Riggs told National Public Radio that Mr Rumsfeld had helped create an atmosphere of "arrogance" among the Pentagon's civilian leadership. "They only need the military advice when it satisfies their agenda. I think that's a mistake, and that's why I think he should resign," he said.

Well, that's a start. Arrogance has been the keynote of the Bush administration from day one. Or maybe a few days later. I think they have done nothing but make mistakes whereever it has been possible for them to do so and no one working there cares to admit it. One of the reasons why wars are a bad thing, in general, is that once you've started one you cannot easily admit that it was a mistake, as too many people have died. And the worse it gets, the worse it gets. So the idea of Rumsfeld resigning or being replaced is very far-fetched and it seems unlikely that any redirection will be possible.

And here is War Nerd, who of course enjoys good wars and has had to take Victor Davis Hanson to task before:

FRESNO -- Lately some of the cheerleaders who waved their pom-poms for the Iraq war have quit the pep squad, yanked the kleenex out of their bras and hit the showers. It's been quite a show, with NeoCon elders like William F. Buckley using the D-word, as in "defeat."

To anybody with any sense, it's been obvious since day one that Iraq was going to be the biggest catastrophe since Nam. But when the cheerleaders start defecting, that's when you know the game's lost. It's like one of the girls at the bottom of the pyramid walking off while the head cheerleader is wobbling at the top of the pile -- kinda ruins the whole stunt.

And today CNN reports: "47 killed in attack on Taliban". That's a lot of people to be killed in an attack on Taliban. The Buddha said, "Taliban is bad, but what is Taliban?" If you read the story it is implied that those killed were Taliban, even though the headline seems to be more accurate. U.S.-led coalition troops attacked "an area" and when the fighting was over 41 people and six policemen were dead. But it's possible that anyone living in a Taliban-designated area has to considered Taliban. This is the principle that has made Iraq the problem described by War Nerd. As he wrote about Hanson in the piece mentioned above:

But I don't really think he's insane—just a traitor, a liar willing to keep shoving American troops and money into a meatgrinder just so he doesn't have to admit he was wrong. Sooner or later we're going to have to face it: these NeoCons don't care about America any more than Stalin cared about Russia. They're not just wrong. They're traitors.