On the heels of President Bush's announcement that Donald Rumsfeld will remain the Defense Secretary until the end of his presidency, an independent military newspaper editorial calls for Rumsfeld's resignation. The Army Times Publications will print the editorial entitled "Time For Rumsfeld To Go" into its November editions of the Army Times, Navy Times, Air Force Times and Marine Corps Times.
How common is it for active-duty military personnel to break ranks with their civilian command and publicly speak out against them?
The big misconception here is that it is the military, or rank and file troops, or the officer corp demanding Rumsfeld step down. Really, it's the editorial board of Gannett publications, publisher of USA Today, among others.
All the other comments here are spot on, but there is one thing I need to add. Serving military personnel are strictly forbidden from making the kind of comments you are talking about here. Perhaps some Democrats and other opponents of the current administration would find it expedient and would delight in it if they did, but they should keep in mind the reason why it's prohibited. It's been instrumental in keeping the military and military leaders out of politics and far away from developing and using power to influence the government--to include any notion of going anywhere near a coup. Military personnel are to officially remain politically nuetral and not endorse politicians or policies for a reason.



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Little confusion here by jefferyharrell :: NR0 :: Show
Army Times Publishing is in no way affiliated with any branch of the United States military, or any other arm of the government. It's a wholly private concern, owned by the Gannett Company.
The four publications you mentioned are written for a military audience, but they are not military publications.
So while the question is a valid one -- about whether active-duty personnel criticize the government -- it's a total non sequitur here. There are no active-duty military personnel involved in this story.