The lead editorial Dec. 10 titled “Wake up call for Rumsfeld” did our secretary of defense a great disservice.

The editorial indicated that when questioned by a National Guardsman about the inadequacy of the armor on their vehicles, he readily acknowledged the problem, complimented the trooper for the accuracy of his complaint and, as reported in the Wall Street Journal, said, “You go to war with the army you have, not the army you want or wish to have.”

At the completion of his remarks, he got a standing ovation. These facts are in direct contrast with the Sun Journal’s depiction of Mr. Rumsfeld as being “stumbling” and “rattled” in his response.

When the troop commanders first started demanding more armored vehicles in August 2003, the production was 30 a month. It’s now at 450 a month.

Mr. Rumsfeld is shaking up the Pentagon acquisition bureaucracy and certainly is cognizant of our Army’s current problems.

Contrary to the Sun Journal’s gloom and doom reports, the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines all met their recruiting goals for the year. Only the National Guard was 6,000 short of its 56,000 goal.

The armed forces and Mr. Rumsfeld are doing a terrific job and deserve better than the short shrift they are getting from the Sun Journal.

William B. Lever, Auburn