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WASHINGTON - Everyone is saying that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s days are numbered, thanks in part to increasing calls by some former generals for Rumsfeld’s resignation. But Rumsfeld was hired by George W. Bush to do precisely what he has done to the consternation of the generals who are now coming out to complain about him. When President Bush brought Rumsfeld back to the Pentagon, the president told him to shake up the Pentagon, to transform it from the Cold War structure and culture that it was stuck in to a new force with strategies that could respond to...

In a wide-ranging exclusive interview with GSN on August 23, Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, the military intelligence operative who collaborated with Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA) to draw worldwide attention to the Able Danger intelligence unit, described Able Danger’s origins, explained how it tracked terrorists as they visited individual mosques around the world, discussed the CIA’s refusal to cooperate with the program, acknowledged the supporting technical role played by the Raytheon Company, and described Able Danger’s ultimate demise.

A colleague had a chance to hear the new Chief of Staff of the Army (GEN Schoomaker, Shinseki's replacement) speak (I'm not sure of the forum). He summarized the talk into a memo, which was distributed to the chain. Sorry about some of the jargon. I don't know it all myself. I can't vouch for the accuracy of the review, other than to say the source is credible. So inaccuracies, if any, are mistranscriptions, and not fabrications. Here is what it said: Subject: New CSA's Comments Some of the highlights of what the CSA said: 1. He had no idea...

Rumsfeld's New Army Chief Unifies the Brass Plus: Strategic Strikes Pondered ... Summer Reading at the Pentagon Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, July 14, 2003; 7:50 AM Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's recent nomination of Peter J. Schoomaker as chief of staff of the Army hasn't caused the kind of angst inside the service that many Army officers and analysts had foreseen. Rumsfeld's pick was audacious, indeed. In selecting Schoomaker, he passed over all of the Army's three- and four-star generals to tap a retired general thought of primarily as a special operator, having retired three years ago as head...

BY ROBERT NOVAK SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST Two trenchant quotations were repeated through Army corridors of the Pentagon last week--one by an enlisted infantryman enduring hardships of occupation duty in Iraq and the other by a four-star general leaving the service after 38 years. Each was clearly unhappy with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Taken together, their comments signaled hard times ahead for the U.S. Army. Last Sunday, a front-page story in the New York Times aroused attention throughout the Pentagon. Pfc. Matthew C. O'Dell, 1st Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division, told a reporter: ''You call Donald Rumsfeld and tell him...

Bush Nominates Retired General for Army Chief of Staff American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, June 17, 2003 – President Bush has nominated retired Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker to be the next Army chief of staff. Schoomaker retired in November 2000 as the commander U.S. Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla. The Senate must confirm Schoomaker before he can take up his new duties. This is only the second time that a president has reached into retired ranks for a high-ranking military position. Army Gen. Maxwell Taylor was retired when President John F. Kennedy asked him to serve...

In the Pentagon as well as in Iraq, the Army just went through a tough week: On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld passed over all of the Army's active-duty generals to tab a retiree as the new chief of staff, the Army's top job. What's more, the new chief comes out of special operations, hardly the traditional path to the top. Some people call the choice a signal to the rest of the Army: Fall in line with Rumsfeld's thinking, or fall behind. On Wednesday, when the old chief of staff retired, nobody from Rumsfeld's office showed up at the...

June 12, 2003 Retiring Army Chief of Staff Warns Against Arrogance By THOM SHANKER FORT MYER, Va., June 11 ?Gen. Eric K. Shinseki, the Army chief of staff who pushed his tradition-bound service on a difficult path toward transformation, retired today, warning against arrogance in leadership. General Shinseki's four-year term was marked by clashes with the Pentagon's civilian leadership over weapons systems and troop strength, and he did not mention Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld in his parting remarks. The defense secretary did not attend the ceremony because he was traveling in Europe en route to a NATO meeting. "You...

<p>Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has picked a retired Special Forces general as his choice for the next Army chief of staff, defense officials said yesterday.</p> <p>Mr. Rumsfeld is recommending that President Bush nominate retired Army Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker to replace the outgoing Army chief of staff, Gen. Eric Shinseki.</p>

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In an unorthodox step, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has picked a general who retired three years ago to return to duty and become the Army's new chief of staff, senior defense officials said on Tuesday. The officials said Rumsfeld asked President Bush (news - web sites) to nominate retired four-star Army Gen. Peter Schoomaker, 57, who previously headed elite U.S. Special Operations forces, to succeed retiring Gen. Eric Shinseki as the Army's top officer. Shinseki departs on Wednesday. Rumsfeld's choice of a retiree to vault past top active Army generals to head the service and become a...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- In a highly unusual move, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has selected a retired four-star general to become the next Army chief of staff, senior defense officials said Tuesday. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the selectee is Peter J. Schoomaker, who retired from the Army after commanding the U.S. Special Operations Command from 1997-2000. The choice, which has not been publicly announced and is subject to confirmation by the Senate, may raise some eyebrows inside the military because it is rare for a defense secretary to bypass senior active-duty generals in favor of...