Rumsfeld's Tenure a Long, Hard Slog

U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld listens to a question Friday, Sept. 29, 2006, in Portoroz, Slovenia. President Bush says Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld is stepping down and former CIA Director Robert Gates will take over at the Pentagon and in prosecuting the war in Iraq. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari) (Haraz N. Ghanbari - AP)

WASHINGTON -- He has been the square-jawed face of the war, the man behind the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that he predicted were just the beginnings of a long, hard slog.

On Wednesday, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld resigned from his post and became the latest casualty of those conflicts _ a victim of a war he steadfastly contended the American public simply did not understand.

Standing next to President Bush in a brief White House appearance, Rumsfeld, 74, offered no regret for a war gone wrong that mushroomed into an issue that helped carry Democrats in Tuesday's elections to control of the House and the Senate. Instead, he provided a glimmer of the trademark temperament that has prompted some critics to call him arrogant.

The war, he said, "is not well known. It was not well understood. It is complex for people to comprehend." And he alluded to the crescendo of calls for his ouster, quoting Winston Churchill: "I have benefited greatly from criticism, and at no time have I suffered a lack thereof."

In the days after Sept. 11, 2001 _ when he helped carry victims of the terrorist attack out of the burning Pentagon _ Rumsfeld was hailed by some as a visionary who was smartly shaping the military into a new, agile force for the 21st century.

His adept management of the attack on Afghanistan in October 2001 was deemed a success, as U.S. forces drove out the ruling Taliban. His stock rose over the next year as he delivered televised war briefings from the Pentagon.

The high point may have come as Rumsfeld introduced America to "shock and awe" bombing during the ferocious assault on Baghdad in the opening days of Operation Iraqi Freedom _ a tactic meant to force a quick surrender by the Iraqis.

Rumsfeld's plunge from hero soon after the spring 2003 fall of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to war wounded began in the murky aftermath of the fall of Baghdad. After the initial assault was over, the harder, bloodier struggle for peace began.

U.S. casualties began to mount, war costs ballooned past $300 billion and scandals over the abuse of prisoners in Iraq and elsewhere began to broaden. The calls for his resignation began with a few senior Democrats during the 2004 campaign, but slowly military leaders _ mostly some who had already retired _ started adding their criticism for his conduct of the war.

In response, Rumsfeld told interviewers that criticism in time of war was to be expected. He dismissed much of it as complaints from "naysayers" reluctant to confront the tough realities of a global conflict pitting Islamic extremists against forces of moderation.

He often told troops in the field that in the future, they would look back on their effort in Iraq or Afghanistan and feel proud that they were part of a historic effort to promote freedom.

While some blame him for having no plans for postwar Iraq and misjudging the strength of the insurgency, others say he served as the lightning rod for criticism of the president's war.