What bubble was burst? I was referring to the ships sunk off the Atlantic coast and in the gulf of Mexico - which were sunk by N**i U Boats. No Japanese in sight.

The War Dept. didn't think U Boats could sail so far, discounting replenishment at sea - first mistake. They didn't think Hitler had the gall - second mistake. The final and fatal mistake for 100's of sailors and 1000's of tons of desperately needed supplies - they didn't prepare for the eventual under sea battle and even waited for dozens of ships to be sunk - before admitting they were wrong and getting busy finding effective counter strategies.

Remember the Moms buying body armor for their kids at the beginning of our recent wars, because WE didn't have enough to go around? Remember the troops jerry rigging armor for their Humvees, because we sent them to war with street legal station wagons? How many were k**led and wounded because of THAT lack of preparedness?

We consistently UNDER estimate our enemies and OVER estimate our greatness, resulting in needless death and injury all around. Going to war takes no time at all, preparing to go to war should take years - yet - we spend no more time preparing for war, than it takes to concoct the first news conference talking points.

We are i***ts to have let this happen again and again and again - but we can stop being i***ts in this one area - if we chose to.

Sorry to burst your bubble but our leaders knew attacks on Pearl Harbor were imminent. Why do you think they sent all aircraft carriers away from Pearl Harbor before the attacks?

In Day of Deceit, Robert Stinnett delivers the definitive final chapter on America's greatest secret and our worst military disaster.

Drawing on twenty years of research and access to scores of previously classified documents, Stinnett proves that Pearl Harbor was not an accident, a mere failure of American intelligence, or a brilliant Japanese military c**p. By showing that ample warning of the attack was on FDR's desk and, furthermore, that a plan to push Japan into war was initiated at the highest levels of the U.S. government, he ends up profoundly altering our understanding of one of the most significant events in American history.
http://www.amazon.com/Day-Of-Deceit-T***h-Harbor/dp/0743201299

Uncle Jesse-what Rumsfeld alluded to was not whether we should have gone into Iraq, but the attempt at introducing democracy to the country.
Rumsfeld was a strong supporter of the Iraq war and you are being disingenuous by suggesting otherwise. We wanted them to have democracy more than they did. The rift between the Kurds/Sunni/Shia is such that it will be difficult for them to ever have a functioning government much less a democracy. I guess those people have a mindset which dictates that their lives comprise of growing opium, fighting, sand and camel dung. Looks like they do not have the heart to fight for their country so its sand and camel dung while high on opium. Hind sight is always 20/20 according to all armchair quarterbacks. In that vein, had we known that the first black president would be such a failure we could have chosen a different black person to be president. Good Luck America !!!

Uncle Jesse-what Rumsfeld alluded to was not whether we should have gone into Iraq, but the attempt at introducing democracy to the country.
Rumsfeld was a strong supporter of the Iraq war and you are being disingenuous by suggesting otherwise. We wanted them to have democracy more than they did. The rift between the Kurds/Sunni/Shia is such that it will be difficult for them to ever have a functioning government much less a democracy. I guess those people have a mindset which dictates that their lives comprise of growing opium, fighting, sand and camel dung. Looks like they do not have the heart to fight for their country so its sand and camel dung while high on opium. Hind sight is always 20/20 according to all armchair quarterbacks. In that vein, had we known that the first black president would be such a failure we could have chosen a different black person to be president. Good Luck America !!!

hi bad bob, that would be a fantasy , if we could just let middle east fight their own battles... ! They want the whole world to be islam, with sharia law.. and they are wiling to die for it.
Don't you know,, they are already setting up camps.. and training here in the U.S.A.? And have infiltrated mosques to train... and brain wash people.?? All they do is come across our open borders.. just the way Obama wants them to. Its like he is leaving a path way for them to enter. He has ordered the patrol guards on the border to stand down. ! So your in fantasy land.
You better start researching bad Bob , they are already here.
So do we go there... to keep them there.. or shall we fight here on our land .????? That is reality.

UncleJessie,
What bothered me was Rumsfeld saying all of this, while he and Cheney were the real actors, not George W. Bush. He can sit back now, what, almost 14 years later, and pontificate.

NOTHING sounded "off" or strange to him. He and Cheney were the ones who decided to make war on Iraq.

This just is a stunning reversal, a re-invention which doesn't hold water.

What a liar, hypocrite, and a fool - to say all this in
public. Does he think all Americans have forgotten his role after September 11? I haven't.

The DUH - belongs to Dublya, Rumsfeld and Chaney.