Rumsfeld rules

The Moose observes that this must be a first for a Secretary of Defense to visit the troops on the front lines in order to boost his own spirits.

The Moose has no problem with Rummy making a surprise trip to Iraq as part of the SECDEF's "Keep my Job" tour. One wonders whether the Defense Department will issue satin jackets with the "Retain Rummy" official logo to commemorate this historic visit with the troops.

Indeed.

"When it looks bleak, when one worries about how it's going to come out, when one reads and hears the naysayers and the doubters who say it can't be done, and that we're in a quagmire here," one should recall that there have been such doubters ``throughout every conflict in the history of the world," he told about 200 soldiers of the 1st Brigade of the 25th Infantry Division at their commander's headquarters.

Mr. Rumsfeld made the 12-hour overnight flight to Iraq from Washington after aides went to unusual lengths to keep it secret. Only a few reporters and one television crew accompanied him. On the plane, Mr. Rumsfeld told reporters: "The purpose of the trip is to thank the troops and wish them a merry Christmas."

Merry Christmas.