Joint Chiefs take time out to condemn cartoon

Joint Chiefs Blast Toles’ Cartoon


In a move without precedent in recent memory, all six members of the military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff have signed a letter complaining to Washington Post managing editor Phil Bennett about a recent political cartoon.
The January 29th cartoon by Tom Toles depicts a wounded soldier, missing his arms and legs and with his head bandaged, in his hospital bed. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is standing next to bed, saying, “I am listing your condition as battle hardened.”
The cartoon is a reference to comments Rumsfeld made last Wednesday, January 25th, in which he blasted critics who said that America’s military was stretched too thin, saying they didn’t understand the state of the “battle-hardened” military.