Lieberman: Why Rumsfeld Must Stay

Warning that forcing the resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld "would delight foreign and domestic opponents of America's presence in Iraq," Connecticut Democratic senator Joseph Lieberman said only solid proof that Rumsfeld has a hand in the abuse of Iraqi prisoners would justify his removal from the president's Cabinet.

Writing in today's Wall Street Journal, the recent candidate for his party's presidential nomination drew a clear line between himself and fellow Democrats calling for Rumsfeld's ouster.

"Many argue that we can only rectify the wrongs done in the Iraqi prisons if Donald Rumsfeld resigns," he wrote.

"I disagree. Unless there is clear evidence connecting him to the wrongdoing, it is neither sensible nor fair to force the resignation of the secretary of defense, who clearly retains the confidence of the commander in chief, in the midst of a war.

"I have yet to see such evidence. Secretary Rumsfeld's removal would delight foreign and domestic opponents of America's presence in Iraq."

In his op-ed column, "Let Us Have Faith - Why Rumsfeld Must Stay," Lieberman says he is appalled by the humiliating abuse of the detainees in Iraq.

He calls for a thorough investigation of the whole scandalous matter, insisting, "We cannot allow the prison scandal in Iraq to diminish our own American sense of national honor and purpose, or further erode support for our just and necessary cause in Iraq."

America, he wrote, must stay the course.

He recalled President Lincoln's words at another difficult moment in American history in pursuit of another just cause - The Civil War and the the abolition of slavery: "'Let us have faith ... and in that faith, do our duty as we understand it.' "

One more reason why Lieberman is known as "the conscience of the Senate."

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