Relations between Gen. Eric Shinseki, the Army Chief of Staff, and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld were never that friendly—and got worse last spring, when Shinseki testified before Congress that occupying Iraq would require "several hundred thousand troops."

Washington Monthly, July-August, 2003 by Susan Threadgill

Relations between Gen. Eric Shinseki, the Army Chief of Staff, and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld were never that friendly--and got worse last spring, when Shinseki testified before Congress that occupying Iraq would require "several hundred thousand troops." Shinseki's estimate, based on a study by the Army War College, was shot down by Rumsfeld deputy Paul Wolfowitz, who disparaged it publicly as "wildly off the mark." The feud continued through Shinseki's retirement ceremony on June 11, which neither Rumsfeld nor Wolfowitz, breaking protocol, deigned to attend.

But Shinseki did not go quietly. His valedictory took several veiled shots at the secretary, criticizing those who "suggest that we, in the Army, don't understand the importance of civilian control of the military" and warning, "Beware the 12 division strategy for a 10 division Army"--a reference to Rumsfeld's plans to downsize that branch of the armed forces.