In fact McCain has been critical of Rumsfeld's minimal-troops strategy for years. He has been saying for a long time that we need more troops to accomplish the mission in Iraq (whatever that is).

That's quite different from saying something nice when a person departs. Most politicians do that, and most people who aren't politicians.


>McCain sure shifts opinions quickly. When Rumsfeld retired, he stated:
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>"While Secretary Rumsfeld and I have had our differences, he deserves Americans' respect and gratitude for his many years of public service," McCain said last year when Rumsfeld stepped down.
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>Another 'politician.' Gee and I really liked the guy (McCain, not Rumsfeld)
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>http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2887846
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>>Some quotes from this ABC article
>>http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2887388&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312
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>>"We are paying a very heavy price for the mismanagement that's the kindest word I can give you of Donald Rumsfeld, of this war," the Arizona senator told an overflow crowd of more than 800 at a retirement community near Hilton Head Island, S.C. "The price is very, very heavy and I regret it enormously."
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>>McCain, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, complained that Rumsfeld never put enough troops on the ground to succeed in Iraq.
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>>"I think that Donald Rumsfeld will go down in history as one of the worst secretaries of defense in history," McCain said to applause.