Rumsfeld Draws Republicans' Ire

Even the GOP leaders are getting fed up with Rumsfeld.

On issues that include General Boykin (who has likened the war against Islamic militants to a battle against Satan) and his own views about the war on terrorism (and the gap between Mr. Rumsfeld's glossy public assessments and the more roughly hewn private views that leaked out this week), senior Republicans have joined Democrats in openly complaining that the Pentagon has left them in the dark and vulnerable on critical and sensitive political issues.

The Pentagon is not exactly Capitol Hill's favorite department anymore," said one prominent Republican staff member. "Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz just give off this sense that they know better than thou, and that they don't have to answer our questions."

Republican lawmakers and top staff members who were interviewed on Thursday would not say whether they had expressed concern about Mr. Rumsfeld to the White House. But some said they had been heartened by Mr. Bush's decision to consolidate decision-making about Iraq under Ms. Rice, the national security adviser, whom they described as having more sensitive political antennas than Mr. Rumsfeld.

EL - Condi Rice is only incompetent, not arrogant. On a couple of occasions the best explanation she and her deputy have come up with for their mistakes is they forgot.