With Iraq descending into chaos , there is growing criticism in the United States over the way the government planned and pursued the war. The war's chief architect, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, is coming under increased fire, not only from the anti-war lobby but also from the heart of the military establishment. A number of former high-ranking Army officers have called for his resignation after publicly questioning Rumsfeld's leadership skills . They accuse Rumsfeld of arrogance and of ignoring military advice. Nevertheless, the White House is backing him all the way -- it has little choice. If it were to admit that his leadership was a failure, it would by implication damn the Bush administration's entire Iraq strategy.

In what has all the appearance of a rebellion, the number of retired generals who have called for Rumsfeld to pack his bags increased to six this week. On Thursday alone, two former generals, retired Maj. Gen. Charles H. Swannack Jr and retired Maj. Gen. John Riggs took to the airwaves to call for him to go.

Maj. Gen. Swannack, who led the 82nd Airborne Division in Iraq, told CNN that he felt Rumsfeld had "micromanaged the generals who are leading our forces." He added that "I really believe that we need a new secretary of defense because Secretary Rumsfeld carries way too much baggage with him." In an interview on National Public Radio, Maj. Gen. Riggs said he should resign because he fostered an atmosphere of "arrogance" among the Pentagon's civilian leadership.

Another four generals have already called for the 73-year old defense secretary to quit. Retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni told CNN this week that Rumsfeld should be held responsible for a series of "disastrous" mistakes, particularly "throwing away ten years worth of planning, plans that had taken into account what we would face in an occupation of Iraq."

Retired Maj. Gen. John Batiste, who commanded the First Infantry Division in Iraq from 2004 to 2005, told CNN on Wednesday, "We need a leader who understands teamwork, a leader who knows how to build teams, a leader who does it without intimidation." Batiste's opinion has particular resonance because he was offered a promotion to return to Iraq as second-in-command. He turned the job down and retired instead because he no longer wished to serve under Rumsfeld.

Retired Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Gregory Nebold and Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton have already spoken out about Rumsfeld, with Eaton writing in The New York Times, that he was "incompetent strategically, operationally and tactically."

Many of Rumsfeld's critics are now pointing to the way he sidelined the opinion of former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki, who said a month before the invasion of Iraq that the job of occupation would require "several hundred thousand troops." Rumsfeld has been accused of committing too few troops  and underestimating the strength of the insurgency.

Meanwhile, the White House has come out battling for the beleaguered defense secretary. Spokesman Scott McClellan said President George W. Bush believed Rumsfeld was doing a "fine job" at a very difficult time. Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaking to journalists, said criticism was to be expected, but that people should "never question the dedication, the patriotism and the work ethic" of Rumsfeld. Pentagon spokesman Eric Ruff told reporters that Rumsfeld is ignoring the calls for his resignation and that it is not distracting him from his work. He added: "I don’t know how many generals there are -- a couple thousand, at least. And they're going to have opinions."