Rumsfeld to Civilian Leaders: Victory in Iraq Critical to U.S. Security

American Forces Press Service ^ | Donna Miles

[SandRat]

WASHINGTON, Oct. 16, 2006 – Settling for less than victory in Iraq would embolden terrorists and invite more attacks on the American people, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told civilian business, academic and local government leaders today at the Pentagon.

The secretary welcomed 45 civilian leaders from throughout the nation before they leave later today for a weeklong trip to the Middle East through the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference that will offer a firsthand look at the military at work in the war on terror.

This asymmetric conflict against non-state actors who operate largely in ungoverned areas poses a far different and more complex challenge than the American people have faced earlier in their history, Rumsfeld told the group. “It’s a heck of a lot more dangerous world,” he said, and failing to see the conflict through to victory would have serious consequences for the United States and all free people.

There’s no way the United States can lose militarily against the terrorists, but the “center of gravity of the war in Iraq is not in Iraq, it’s in Washington, D.C.,” he said.

Rumsfeld shared the sentiment a wounded Marine at the National Naval Medical Hospital in Bethesda, Md., offered him over the weekend. “If the American people will only give us time, it will work,” Rumsfeld said the Marine, an embedded trainer with the Iraqi army, told him. “I see that it is working,” the Marine said.

“It’s winnable and doable,” Rumsfeld said of the Iraq conflict, but he offered no projection about when the United States will begin bringing its forces home.

“Conditions on the ground will determine (the timetable for drawing down the force in Iraq),” he said. “A timeline benefits the enemy, because all they have to do is wait us out.”

Rumsfeld emphasized important benchmarks toward that goal, with Iraqis getting to the point where they can provide their own governance and security. He called Iraq’s reconciliation process “critical” for its government to get the degree of support it needs.

The secretary encouraged the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference participants, who will visit military sites throughout the Middle East during the next week, to take advantage of the opportunity to see “what the amazing young men and women (in the military) are doing for their country every day.”

Marine Maj. Gen. Timothy F. Ghormley, special assistant to the U.S. Central Command commander, told the group at a reception last night he’s proud of what these troops are doing and is looking forward to giving the group a chance to observe it firsthand.

“I’m really excited to show you what we are doing,” he said. “What we are doing is so important. And in my heart of hearts, I believe we are winning.”

Ghormley echoed Rumsfeld’s view that the highlight of the trip won’t be the ships, aircraft and weapons systems the group will see, but the chance to meet the troops on the front lines in the war on terror. “Spend time with them,” he said. “And give them a good, hearty shake of the hand and a hug.”

The first U.S. defense secretary, James V. Forrestal, created the JCOC program in 1948 to introduce civilian "movers and shakers" with little or no military exposure to the workings of the armed forces. Nearly six decades later, it remains DoD's premier civic leader program. Participants are selected from hundreds of candidates nominated by military commands worldwide and pay their own expenses throughout the conference.

[SandRat]

How many times are these so called "Civilian Leaders" gonna have to be told before the message sinks in????

[Stoat]

How many times are these so called "Civilian Leaders" gonna have to be told before the message sinks in????

My abilities with algebra have withered from disuse, and so someone who is more current with that stuff could probably provide a proper equation, but expressed strictly in English I would guess that it would be a matter of taking the number of times in which the Leftist-dominated and increasingly treasonous media shouts to all who will listen that the war in Iraq is not only unjust, illegal, immoral and racist but is not winnable because of corrupt leadership and the United States being an essentially corrupt nation, and multiply that number by perhaps five or ten in order to undo the damage and misinformation that has already been inflicted upon people.

Perhaps it could be expressed as  L ( T x10) = A

wherein L = Lies, T = Truth and A = Accurate perception of events.