If anyone symbolizes the changing fortunes of war, it's Donald Rumsfeld. Not many months ago, the defense secretary was basking in the glory of the U.S.-British invasion of Iraq. Today, he struggles to explain the pitfalls of the U.S.-British occupation. .
Rumsfeld made the rounds of the Sunday TV news shows -- Fox News Sunday, NBC's Meet the Press and ABC's This Week. His appearances were scheduled to defend the Bush administration against growing criticism about post-war Iraq. Rumsfeld's job was to put a hopeful spin on the escalating attacks on U.S. forces and the United Nations and Red Cross installations there. .
Rumsfeld planned to downplay those events. Instead, he was forced to address a missile attack on a U.S. Army CH-47 Chinnok transport helicopter Sunday that killed 15 soldiers. It was the deadliest single strike against U.S. forces since the Iraq war began. .
"The people who are firing off these surface-to-air missiles are the same people who are killing Iraqis . and they're going to be beaten eventually," Rumsfeld told ABC's This Week. .
An increasing number of Americans, however, want to know exactly how long that victory will take and how lives must be sacrificed. .
Americans need answers. It's time the Bush administration gave us a full accounting of the Iraq war. It must present an exit strategy and a timetable for bringing our troops home. .
Despite Rumsfeld's assurances that all is well, events on the ground in Iraq tell a different story. Terrorists bombings have become more sophisticated, better coordinated and far more deadly. .
Americans need to know how long our young men and women must stay in Iraq. The White House must give us clear, definitive answers. .