Rumsfeld; One cold M*therf*cker.

[mburbank]

The point is that "Fungible" is a word used for raw material that can be moved around, reallocated, replaced, etc. One quantity can be replaced by another. Oil, wheat, and lumber are fungible commodities.

I don't know if the deffinition actively excludes human beings, but it's certainly a novel use of the word and pretty revealing of the man who used it. I've never heard it used for living, breathing people before.

This isn't W. we're talking about. Rumsfeld knows the meanings of words. I'm not saying it was a deliberate choice, if he'd thought twice I'm certain he wouldn't have said it. I think it shows that he thinks of soldiers in the same way he thinks of oil, wheat and lumber. Raw materials.

If people are 'fungible' why the hell can't we put Rummy on the front lines?