Rumsfeld's Departure

Is Secretary Rumsfeld being eased out?

Burdened by the Iraq prisoner abuse scandal and constrained by the presidential election campaign, the Pentagon chief who spearheaded the Afghanistan and Iraq wars has been relegated to a less visible role.

Once seemingly in danger of being fired over the prisoner abuse, Rumsfeld appears to have survived. Yet some wonder whether the White House might still conclude he is a political liability and prefer he leave this summer.

You might think his job security would have more to do with his job performance, but that doesn't seem to be so.

William Nash, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a retired two-star Army general who commanded American peacekeeping forces in Bosnia, said the White House's political calculations will determine Rumsfeld's fate.

"Right now everything in this administration is being measured against whether or not it contributes to the re-election of the president in November," he said. "Obviously he's been a lightning rod and oh, by the way, he's also been wrong and that's never good" for Bush.

There's so much speculation floating about, it is hard to make sense of. I will say this: I cannot fathom Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Powell all serving in a second-term Bush administration. Powell seems the likeliest to leave, and that's been true for many months, even years. Yet it appears that Rumsfeld is the liability. And the rumors about Cheney are endless.