How Many Retired Generals Does It Take . . .

An eighth retired general, Marine Lieut. Gen. Paul Van Riper, is calling for Defense Secretary Rumsfeld's head.

The three-star general said on Fox News, of all places:

If this leader is not capable of doing it, now going in excess of five years, has not demonstrated he is, then perhaps it is time to find a new one. If I was the president, I would have relieved him three years ago.

Meanwhile, Brendan Miniter, a pinhead on the Wall Street Journal editorial page, tries to reduce the Rumself controversy to pablum-sized bites by writing that its just a bureaucratic turf battle.

Well that's a relief. Here I thought the whole thing was over the heart and soul of the American military and how to extricate the U.S. from Iraq with a modicum of dignity and without capitulating to the sectarian militias and insurgents.