Tom Ricks's Inbox

It is my view from direct dealing with the current senior leadership of this Administration . . . and the Congress . . . and the Armed Forces -- that Mr Rumsfeld is viewed by many as a ruthless and mostly self-serving official who dominated the policy process to the ultimate detriment of the nation.

He claimed credit when it was not his due -- and adroitly evaded responsibility for his failures. Finally, by the end -- it was my belief that he was disingenuous at best when confronted by the media for his failures. This is as polite as I can be to characterize his deliberate denial of evidence that contradicted his public mis-statements of the facts.

The new Secretary Bob Gates is going to make a serious contribution to getting us out of this dangerous situation in the short time remaining. He is brilliant and has common sense -- and is an official of great integrity.

Dr Rice is no longer anchored by the constraints of Mr Rumsfeld -- and now plays a pivotal role in a new aggressive public diplomacy. Dave Petraeus and Ryan Crocker will jointly play a creative leadership role in Iraq -- minus the widely hated interference which came from Mr Rumsfeld. The White House Chief-of-staff and the National Security Advisor will now have a chance to open a dialogue with Congress to possibly get some sort of bi-partisan solution to the disaster that Mr Rumsfeld left us.

Again -- I understand and respect your sense of loyalty -- but I think Mr Rumsfeld's leadership failure as the Secretary of Defense got the nation and the Armed Forces in a very dangerous position.

Would also suggest that your very pointed emails -- such as the one to Joe Galloway and now me -- which defend his disasterous tenure . . . are very much part of the public record and debate.

Appreciate the chance to respond to your views. Best wishes.

Barry McCaffrey

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Tom Ricks is The Post's military correspondent. This feature aims to give readers a snapshot of the conversations about Iraq, Afghanistan and other matters that play out in Ricks's e-mail inbox. Have an interesting document? Send it to TheInbox@washpost.com