So Do Something About It!

The Secretary of Defense admits that private security contractors operating in Iraq are undermining the larger American mission in that country. He also confesses that his forces can't operate there without the help of contractors. At this point, presumably, he shrugs his shoulders. He ought to do more than that. He answers only to the Commander-in-Chief, and the Pentagon answers to him. If the contractors do more harm than good, get rid of them. If that means you need more troops to do whatever it is the Americans are supposed to be doing in Iraq, then call up more troops, or call for volunteers, or call for a draft, or better yet, quit the damned occupation. Might the Vice President disagree? Let him. As far as I know, that office has no power over the Defense Department, and partakes of no executive authority whatsoever. Even if the President delegates responsibilities to his understudy, the Veep has no formal powers and his word to a Cabinet member can never be final. The current Vice President has long longed to privatize the military as far as possible. Now everyone sees the consequences, except perhaps for the President. So if Mr. Gates thinks there's a problem, he should go straight to the Oval Office and not take Cheney's word for an answer. I'm not saying he'd get satisfaction from Bush, but he ought at least to make the effort, and he owes it to the American people to let us know how it turns out.