This from the New York Times today: “Long-simmering tensions between Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Army commanders have erupted in a series of complaints from officers on the Iraqi battlefield that the Pentagon has not sent enough troops to wage the war as they want to fight it. Raw nerves were obvious as officers compared Rumsfeld to Robert McNamara, an architect of the Vietnam War who failed to grasp the political and military realities of Vietnam. One colonel, who spoke on the condition that his name be withheld, was among the officers criticizing decisions to limit initial deployments of troops to the region. “He wanted to fight this war on the cheap,” the colonel said. “He got what he wanted.”

A major story in this week’s New Yorker by Seymour Hersh broke open this major rift. We are joined by him now to about Rumsfeld, the war, the resignation of Richard Perle and the questionable history of former General and current NBC/MSNBC commentator Barry McCaffrey.

• Seymour Hersh, Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter with The New Yorker. His latest piece is titled “Offense and Defense: The Battle Between Donald Rumsfeld and the Pentagon.”

Related link:

• “Offense and Defense: The Battle Between Donald Rumsfeld and the Pentagon”