Rumsfeld Resigns

[Update: More on Robert Gates here, and some clues to how he thinks here and .]

It was probably inevitable, and if it might have been the only way to preserve any kind of bipartisan consensus on Iraq. I agree with Robert’s analysis, as it concerns Korea policy. Rumsfeld has managed the downsizing of the alliance creditably, confronting, rather than denying, the effect of the political trends there. Much of what Rumsfeld did right in Korea is owed to the very able assistance of Richard Lawless. If Lawless stays, and Gates listens to him, then the process of breaking Gates in may be an easier one. If not, he may continue to approach Korea from a 1985 perspective. Hope he’s been keeping up with the news, but nothing I’ve heard about Gates gives me much comfort.