U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld rejected yesterday calls for his resignation, saying there would be no stability at the Defense Department if the secretary was changed every time a few people had critical views. "I intend to serve the president at his pleasure," Rumsfeld said in an interview with Dubai-based Al Arabiya that aired it Friday. It was Rumsfeld's most direct rejection yet of calls for his resignation by six retired former generals, several of whom held key command and staff positions in the U.S. military campaign in Iraq. Rumsfeld said retired generals can look to the past and make judgments, "but that doesn't make them right." The defense secretary rejected criticism that he had not given his commanders enough troops to pacify Iraq, one of the key issues cited by several of the retired generals who have accused him of dismissing professional military advice. "No one knows for sure what the right numbers should be. Everyone can have their opinion and express their opinion," Rumsfeld said. "Personally, I'll go with General [John] Abizaid and General [George] Casey's judgment. I think they are probably the best observers," he said, referring to the two top commanders over U.S. forces in Iraq.
