Rumsfeld resignation row simmers

Donald Rumsfeld has the "full support" of the president

Another two US generals have weighed into the row over whether Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld should quit.

Ex-Nato commander Gen Wesley Clark, who ran for the Democrat presidential nomination in 2004, backed calls for Mr Rumsfeld to resign.

But ex-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen Richard Myers, said the calls were inappropriate.

Six retired generals have recently spoken out against Mr Rumsfeld's handling of the war in Iraq.

But President George W Bush has assured Mr Rumsfeld of his "full support" and rejected calls for him to step down.

Frequent critic

Gen Clark said in a television interview: "I believe secretary Rumsfeld hasn't done an adequate job. He should go."

Gen Clark said he believed Mr Rumsfeld, along with Vice-President Dick Cheney, had helped push the Iraq invasion when there was "no connection with the war on terror".

CRITICAL RETIRED GENERALS Gen Wesley Clark, Army Gen Charles H Swannack Jr, Army Gen John Riggs, Army Gen John Batiste, Army Gen Anthony Zinni, Marines Gen Gregory Newbold, Marines Gen Paul Eaton, Army

Gen Clark said the secretary had lost the confidence of some officers in the military who were asking for "somebody in the military chain of command who will listen".

Gen Clark has been a frequent critic of the Bush administration's Iraq policy.

But Gen Myers defended Mr Rumsfeld and criticised the resignation calls.

"My whole perception of this is it's bad for the military, and for military relations, and it's very bad for the country," he said.

President Bush has praised Mr Rumsfeld for his "energetic and steady leadership" during his years at the Pentagon.

The defence secretary has also personally dismissed suggestions that he should resign.

The two most senior generals to voice their unease over Mr Rumsfeld were Maj Gen John Riggs and Maj Gen Charles H Swannack Jr, both of the Army.

In a radio interview Gen Riggs, a former division commander, said Mr Rumsfeld fostered an atmosphere of "arrogance" among the Pentagon's top civilian leadership.