Rumsfeld defended by former top general

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld did not intimidate members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during planning of the Iraq war as some retired generals have charged, a former chairman said.

With Rumsfeld described by his critics as a micromanager who did not listen to military leaders, the Pentagon circulated a one-page memo late last week detailing the defence secretary’s frequent contacts with numerous military and civilian advisers.

Richard Myers, the Air Force general who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs from 2001 until last fall, dismissed criticism that military leaders failed to stand up to Rumsfeld and President George Bush when they disagreed with those civilian officials.

“We gave him our best military advice and I think that’s what we’re obligated to do,” Myers said yesterday on This Week on ABC television. “If we don’t do that, we should be shot.”

A half-dozen retired generals have called for Rumsfeld’s sacking, citing mistakes in the conduct of the war in Iraq. Some have suggested that intimidation by Rumsfeld kept military leaders quiet even when they thought policies were flawed.

“You’d have to believe that everybody in the chain of command is intimidated, and I don’t believe that,” Myers said. He added that Rumsfeld allowed “tremendous access” for presenting arguments.

“In our system, when it’s all said and done … the civilians make the decisions,” he said. “And we live by those decisions.”

The Pentagon memo, which was not dated or signed, put onto paper information that had been provided orally to reporters on Friday. It is not unusual for the Defence Department to distribute such information to analysts, military officials and others who might be reporting or commenting on a Pentagon policy.

Senior military leaders “are involved to an unprecedented degree in every decision-making process” in the Defence Department, according to the memo. Rumsfeld, it said, had met members of the joint chiefs 139 times and combat commanders 208 times from 2005 to the present.

Bush on Friday said that Rumsfeld “has my full support” and praised the defence secretary “for his leadership during this historic and challenging time for our nation”.

On yesterday’s television news shows, Republican lawmakers either backed Rumsfeld or declined to take issue with Bush’s support for him. Democrats continued to call for a change in Pentagon leadership.

Republican Senator George Allen of Virginia suggested that people are looking for a “scapegoat”, yet he called the retired generals who have criticised Rumsfeld “people of credibility”.

Allen, on CBS’ Face the Nation television show, questioned whether replacing Rumsfeld would have any impact on the insurgents in Iraq, the training of security forces there or on how Iraqi leaders form their government.