Edition: U.S. / Global

The Abuse Scandal: A Leadership Under Siege

Published: May 8, 2004

To the Editor:

Re ''Donald Rumsfeld Should Go'' (editorial, May 7):

The real target in the justified hue and cry over the abuse of Iraqi prisoners isn't Donald H. Rumsfeld now; it's George W. Bush in November.

The Democrats do not have any viable plan for how to pursue the war other than to say, It wouldn't have happened on our watch.

Perhaps this is true, but it is also possible that if were it not for President Bush, Saddam Hussein would still be in power, adding to an estimated 300,000 Iraqis murdered by his regime and tortured in his prisons, including Abu Ghraib.


Arlington, Va., May 7, 2004

The writer was an Army Reserve adviser, U.S. Army War College.