On December 15, 1993, Bill Clinton accepted Les Aspin’s resignation as Secretary of Defense. Here’s a recap.
In 1993, of course, it took much less for Republicans to drive
out the Secretary of Defense. Bill Clinton’s Secretary of Defense Les
Aspin assumed ownership of George H.W. Bush’s December 1992 Somalia
intervention . But it was Aspin who came under withering assault for the disasterous Black Hawk Down episode in Mogadishu, Somalia in October 1993 that left 18 Rangers dead and 84 wounded. That September, Aspin turned down General
Thomas Montgomery’s request for armored reinforcements to protect U.S.
troops from growing attacks by the forces of Somali warlord Mohammed
Farah Aidid. (Note that Joint Chiefs Chairman Colin Powell reportedly also refused to provide additional AC-130 gunships.)Aspin’s refusal to provide the armor led to an all-out GOP assault.
New York Senator Alphonse D’Amato led the way, stating that, “he should
be fired now, he should resign now, and if he doesn’t resign, then the
president should remove him.” Congressional Republicans called for
Aspin’s resignation, and Newt Gingrich called for hearings to determine
if field commanders are given “the support they need.”Events moved rapidly from there. On October 7, 1993, President
Clinton called for a U.S. withdrawal by March 31, 1994. In December,
Les Aspin resigned. A year and a half later, Les Aspin died from a
stroke.
Les Aspin resigned over a controversy over equipment. Donald Rumsfeld remains after overseeing two disastrous wars. Just look at this. [emphasis added].
Biden also said that, in an Oval Office meeting, he told President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney that he wanted Cheney to step down for the same reasons.
“The present said to me, quote, ‘Why do you keep picking on Rummy?’ I looked at the president, and I said, ‘Mr. President, with all due respect’ – and I looked at the vice president – ‘Mr. Vice President, I would call for your resignation as well, were you not a constitutional officer,'” Biden told host Bob Scheiffer.
“And the president said, ‘Why would you say that?’ And I said, ‘Mr. President, not one piece of advice either Don Rumsfeld or Dick Cheney has given you has turned out to be correct with regard to Iraq.’ And the president just seems completely wedded to the notion,” Biden said.
This is akin to the philosophy of High Broderism that states, effectively, that if a Democrat does something it is impeachable or requires resignation, but if a Republican does something several thousand times worse it is shrill and viturperative to complain about it.
