Colonel becomes Bush poster boy
In the brutal world of Washington politics, it pays to keep your friends close -- and your potential critics even closer. Was that President Bush's strategy last week when he repeatedly lauded the work of Colonel H. R. McMaster of the Third Armored Calvary Regiment?
McMaster led US and Iraqi forces last year in a successful operation to recapture the town of Tal Afar, which had become a haven for Al Qaeda after US forces failed to keep the region under their control. The town's mayor commended McMaster for transforming a terrorist-controlled ''slaughterhouse" into a city that is ''breathing life again."
But McMaster also happens to be the author of the award-winning book ''Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies that Led to Vietnam," published in 1997 and still widely read among Pentagon brass. As the title suggests, McMaster's book is a searing account of official deception behind the Vietnam War.
McMaster's position at the heart of the Iraq war begs the question: Does he hold views that will wind up in a similarly critical account of President Bush's war? ''As a trained historian, I'm reluctant to draw parallels," McMaster said in an interview Friday.
Meanwhile, this soldier-scholar -- who taught at West Point and was a fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution -- now stars in Bush speeches explaining how the military is winning friends in Iraq.
In other words, McMaster has become the president's poster boy for US progress on the ground.
McMaster, who spoke to us from Fort Carson, Colo., where his regiment is based, wasn't about to spill the beans on his personal views about the leadership of the Iraq war or whether there's another book in his future.
''As a military officer, it's my job to do our mission," he said.
When pressed for his views on the Iraq war, McMaster laughed and added, ''Gosh, it's a lot easier to talk about things from 30 years ago."
Rumsfeldian wit stays sharp
The knives were out for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld last week, starting with a New York Times op-ed article March 19 in which retired General Paul D. Eaton, who was in charge of training the Iraqi military from 2003 to 2004, called for his former boss's resignation and accused Rumsfeld of putting the Pentagon ''at the mercy of his ego."
The Washington press corps took the cue, and at a news conference Thursday, reporters pestered the irascible Rumsfeld with questions about whether he felt ''at all embattled" or whether he should ''step down and smell the roses, perhaps?"
It's safe to report that the defense secretary has lost none of the famed Rumsfeldian wit. One reporter cited a column by New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd quoting an unnamed administration official asserting that in administration meetings Rumsfeld is treated as ''an eccentric old uncle who's ignored."
Rumsfeld shot back, ''If you believe everything you read in Maureen Dowd, you better get a life." With that, Rumsfeld got a laugh.
Website targets legislator's tastes
Republicans have launched a website, www.fancyford.com, which ridicules US Representative Harold Ford Jr., the Tennessee Democrat running for Senator Bill Frist's seat this year, for his expensive tastes.
Ford, the site says, ''likes to live the good life . . . perhaps a little too much. . . . Lavish hotel stays. Fine Dining. Couture suits. Parties with Playboy playmates. All on the campaign contributors' dime."
Apparently, though, Ford considered this slam below-the-(Armani) belt, so he complained.
The result? More publicity for the Republican website. The site has now received more than 256,000 hits, and Dan Ronayne, spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, says he appreciates the help.
Of course, the Democrats have struck back with their own Web attack: www.fancyfrist.com, which accuses the Senate Republican leader of lavish hotel stays, big business-funded chartered flights, and investment schemes with the family fortune.
The only problem with the Democrats' counterattack: Ford is running for a Senate seat; Frist is retiring.
Weapon of choice? The Web
And more Web attacks: Republicans are trying to make light of the Democrats' repeated allegation of ''dangerous incompetence" against the White House.
The Michigan GOP -- thrilled with Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow's unfortunate video image in which she stood next to a sign reading ''DANGEROUS INCOMPETENCE" -- have launched a fairly hilarious website mocking her: www.dangerousdebbie.com.
Kennedy pitches book in blue zone
Howard Dean, Democratic National Committee chairman, may be trekking through conservative states to make the case for his party. But Senator Edward M. Kennedy apparently doesn't feel the need. The tour for his newly released book, ''America Back on Track," stays safely inside the Amtrak blue zone: New York, Boston, and Washington, D.C.
Globe staffers Susan Milligan and Bryan Bender contributed to this week's Briefing. 
