An e-mail from Texas:

Egads!
Clinton has been out office for 4 years, the Twin Towers pulverized 3000 souls and yet even Conservatives can’t let go of the “it’s all about my feelings” ethos of the 90s.
Am I appalled that Rumsfeld might use an auto pen to sign letter of condolence to the next of kin? Absolutely not. I want him working full bore 24/7 to re-organize the Army and win the war in Iraq.
Let’s be honest here. How important is a form letter from the Secretary of Defense intoning, “On behalf of the President and………..” You know what the families crave, honest to goodness personal letters from the commanding officer of their loved one’s company and battalion. These are real people who knew the deceased. People who can honestly say, “I was there when John pulled one of his squad members out of the ambush”, or “Mary upheld the highest traditions of the Army”.
This is just another weak criticism of a man who has a difficult job. It appears that the only way his opponents can attack him is to nibble him to death.
What do people expect? For Rumsfeld to personally go to Kuwait and bolt armor on Humvees? Do they want him shed tears for the dead? As any veteran will tell you, there’s time enough for tears after the battle is won. Just months ago, some media morons were echoing this choice morsel, “Why doesn’t the President go to Dover and meet the coffins of the dead?” Isn’t this just too ludicrous for words?
The President and the Secretary of Defense owe a greater duty to the living than the dead. Even as late as the Vietnam era, the response of the American public was to suck it up and drive on. Eisenhower would probably agree with the statement that “every life is precious”, but that does not change the military and moral calculus on the beaches of Normandy. Sometimes soldiers die. The duty of the chain of command is to see to it that a soldier’s death is a positive contribution to a just and moral end, not an offering to Odin.