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I admire Donald Rumsfeld. The former two-time Secretary of Defense, White House Chief of Staff and Congressman is also a former naval aviator and a very successful private sector executive. Rumsfeld's life has been defined by public service of the highest sort. His leadership in the war, from the moment he went towards the crash site on 9/11, was defined by a relentless focus on the enemy, a focus so extraordinary that it made him a political liability and a target for every grouser inside the Pentagon and every critic of the war--for whatever reason-- outside of the building. His...

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates was unfased when he met U2 rock star Bono - as he had no idea who he was. The With Or Without You star met the politician at the Pentagon in Washington D.C. on Thursday (24Jan08), as part of his efforts to persuade world leaders to increase aid to developing nations. The U2 frontman and humanitarian has already pressed French president Nicolas Sarkozy to stick to plans to raise development assistance to poorer countries, particularly those in Africa, and he continued his campaign with a low-key meeting with Gates. But the 64-year-old admits he was...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10, 2008 – U.S. defense officials were very disturbed by the actions of Iranian attack boats in the Straits of Hormuz on Jan. 6, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today, and he dismissed Iranian charges that U.S. officials doctored a videotape to make the Iranians look bad. The five Iranian boats “buzzed” three U.S. Navy warships transiting the straits into the Persian Gulf. The boats approached within 500 yards of the ships and appeared to drop boxes into the water in the path of the U.S. ships. Officials released a video showing the boats and recordings...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10, 2008 – The Iraqi military has played a crucial and indispensible role in building the new security environment in the country, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates (left) reacts to a comment from the press during a joint news conference with Iraqi Minister of Defense Abd al-Qadir al-Mufriji at the Pentagon, Jan. 10, 2008. Photo by Tech. Sgt. Jerry Morrison, USAF  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Gates spoke during a joint news conference with Iraqi Defense Minister Abd al-Qadir al-Mufriji. The minister met with Gates to discuss laying...

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif., Jan. 8, 2008 – Sgt. Kevin Knight has been a Marine for four years. He has deployed three times to Iraq. The first was in 2004, when he was just out of his infantry training. He returned from his most recent deployment in November. With their commanders ushered from the room, Knight and about 50 other Marines fresh from deployment were able to sit across the table from Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates here yesterday to ask straight questions and get straight answers on whatever was on their minds. Gates met with troops on Navy and Marine...

The holidays offer a special time to remember our many blessings as Americans – perhaps chief among them are the dedicated Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines who protect our nation. Since assuming this post a year ago, I have been awed and humbled by our men and women in uniform who are carving for themselves a noble place in American history. We began the year by deploying tens of thousands of additional troops to Iraq as part of a concerted civil-military effort. Violence has declined sharply, and former enemy strongholds are being transformed into communities of hope and possibility. While...

MANAMA, Bahrain, Dec. 6, 2007 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said the broad perspectives he’s received in Iraq over the last two days have convinced him Iraq is on the right track and that Iraqi leaders understand they need to move more quickly to keep up with security gains. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates greets local leaders in Mosul, Iraq, during a trip to Iraq's third-largest city, Dec. 5, 2007. Photo by Tech. Sgt. Jerry Morrison, USAF  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Gates today wrapped up a whirlwind visit to Iraq, where he met with Iraqi government...

BAGHDAD, Dec. 5, 2007 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates talked with Iraqi leaders and U.S. commanders here today to explore ways to maintain momentum built in recent months and continue to build on it. Gates met with Iraqi President Jalal Talibani, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Defense Minister Abd al-Qadir al-Mufriji and U.S. commanders. Here on his sixth visit as defense secretary, Gates noted vast security improvements. During a joint news conference with Mufriji, Gates cited “recent months of dramatic change in the security situation across the nation, a decline in violence to levels not seen since the Samarra mosque...

Excerpt - MOSUL, Iraq (AP) — Defense Secretary Robert Gates made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Wednesday to assess the progress that has been made in recent months since the buildup of U.S. forces began to take hold and reduce violence in some parts of the country. Making his sixth trip to the battlefront in a year, Gates planned to talk to Gen. David Petraeus, the top military commander in Iraq, and also meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. ~ snip ~

KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 4, 2007 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today pointed to the new national intelligence estimate as evidence that non-military means are the best way for the United States to deal with Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. Responding to a reporter’s query during a joint news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai here, Gates said the estimate, released yesterday, also underscores the need for the international community to continue pressuring Iran not to restart its nuclear weapons program. “If anything, the new national estimate validates the administration’s strategy of bringing diplomatic and economic pressures to bear on...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 16, 2007 – A local Boy Scouts of America organization recognized Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates for his lifelong devotion to scouting during an award ceremony here yesterday. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates thanks members of the Boy Scouts of America National Capital Area Council after receiving the organization’s Citizen of the Year award at their annual dinner in Washington, D.C., Nov. 15, 2007. Photo by Cherie A. Thurlby  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Gates received the “Citizen of the Year” award, bestowed annually by the National Capital Area Council. Since 1968, the council has recognized...

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday that unless Congress passes funding for the Iraq war within days, he will direct the Army and Marine Corps to begin developing plans to lay off employees and terminate contracts early next year. Gates, who met with members of Congress on Wednesday, said that he does not have the money or the flexibility to move funding around to adequately cover the costs of the continuing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. "There is a misperception that this department can continue funding our troops in the field for an indefinite period of time through accounting maneuvers,...

WASHINGTON: US Defence Secretary Robert Gates heads to Beijing on Saturday to air US misgivings about the direction China is taking with a military build-up. Gates, who also is scheduled to visit South Korea and Japan during the week-long trip, will meet with President Hu Jintao as well as China's other top military leaders during a two and half day stay in Beijing. The US side is hoping the Chinese will agree to establish a telephone hot line linking the Pentagon and Chinese defence ministry as a mark of improving security ties, a senior defence official said. But on his...

HEIDELBERG, Germany, Oct. 25, 2007 – Defense Secretary Robert M Gates urged European military leaders meeting here today to step up their countries’ contributions in Afghanistan and eliminate restrictions on their forces that threaten the mission’s success. The NATO alliance has made huge contributions leading the International Security Assistance Force, Gates told officers attending the 15th Conference of European Armies. U.S. Army Europe sponsors the annual ground-forces conference. He noted that NATO leads 25 provincial reconstruction teams that are helping the Afghans build infrastructure, while some allies are conducting decisive military actions that are thwarting Taliban efforts. Meanwhile, Gates said,...

Pentagon chief seeking plan to close Guantanamo Wed Sep 26, 2007 5:06pm EDT By Kristin Roberts WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Wednesday he wanted to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo but could not forge agreement inside the Bush administration. Gates said the Pentagon was still pushing the issue, but stumbling blocks remain, primarily over where al Qaeda and Taliban suspects would be held if not at the base in Cuba. "I was unable to achieve agreement within the executive branch on how to proceed," Gates told a U.S. Senate committee. "I have asked...

WILLIAMSBURG, Va., Sept. 17, 2007 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates presented his “realist’s view" of promoting democracy abroad during a speech delivered at the World Forum on the Future of Democracy here today. (Video) Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates speaks during the World Forum on the Future of Democracy in Williamsburg, Va., Sept. 17, 2007. Defense Dept. photo by Cherie A. Thurlby  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Gates said democratic reform takes time, and to abandon Iraq would be a setback for freedom and stability in the region, and it would not be in the United States’...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 16, 2007 – Failure in Iraq would empower extremists and have “enormous” consequences for the Middle East and the United States, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today during his appearance on two television news talk shows. Appearing on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace and This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Gates said the consequences of failure is a forgotten theme in Washington’s debate about Iraq. “No matter how you feel about how we got to where we are, the consequences of getting this wrong for Iraq, for the region, for us, are enormous,” he told said....

WASHINGTON, Sept. 11, 2007 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told grieving family members at the Pentagon’s west wall today that the military would continue to pursue and defeat America’s enemies, especially terrorist organizations such as al Qaeda, which instigated the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. (Video) Mazie Lawson meets with reporters after the Sept. 11 remembrance ceremony at the Pentagon on the sixth anniversary of the attacks. Lawson said she still grieves for her daughter, Cecelia E. Richard, a federal civilian employee who was among the 184 innocent people killed during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the...

Some faculty and students at Stanford University say they are outraged by the fellowship appointment of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld, who resigned last year amid intense criticism of his handling of the Iraq war, has been given a one-year fellowship at the Hoover Institution at Stanford, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Sunday.

Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, who directed the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and then resigned last November after months of mounting pressure, will join Stanford University's Hoover Institution as a visiting fellow. Rumsfeld, who also led the nation's response to Sept. 11, will participate in the institution's new task force of scholars and experts studying post-Sept. 11 ideology and terror, according to Hoover director John Raisian, in a statement released Friday afternoon. "I have asked Don to join the distinguished group of scholars that will pursue new insights on the direction of thinking that the United...

Rumsfeld resigned before election, letter shows Wed Aug 15, 2007 11:40AM EDT By Kristin Roberts WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Rumsfeld, architect of the unpopular Iraq war, resigned as defense secretary before last year's November election but his decision was not announced until after the voting, according to his resignation letter obtained by Reuters on Wednesday. The letter was dated November 6, the day before voters, angered by Iraq, went to the polls and swept Republicans from power in Congress. According to a stamp on the letter, President George W. Bush saw it on election day. Bush, however, did not announce...

Summary: Did the Bush administration disregard military expertise before the Iraq war? Should military leaders have done more to protest in response? Michael Desch's "Bush and the Generals" (May/June 2007) contains significant errors of fact and interpretation. One of us, Richard Myers, has direct knowledge and personal experience with the subject; the other, Richard Kohn, has been studying and observing American civil-military relations for 45 years. Bush administration officials did not, as Desch charges, "overrule" the military "on the number of troops to be sent" to Iraq or "the timing of ... deployment." Both were the result of over a...

EN ROUTE TO WASHINGTON, Aug. 2, 2007 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today he’s hopeful about progress on the security front in Iraq, but acknowledged he is disappointed with political upheaval within the Iraqi government. “I think the developments on the political side are somewhat discouraging at the national level. And clearly, the withdrawal of the Sunnis from the government is discouraging,” Gates told reporters during a flight back to Washington following a four-day visit to the Middle East. “My hope is it can all be patched back together,” he said. Seeing the discord taking place in Iraq,...

WASHINGTON — Former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld defended himself and took no personal responsibility Wednesday for the military's bungled response to Army Ranger Pat Tillman's friendly-fire death in Afghanistan. Rumsfeld, in his first public appearance on Capitol Hill since President Bush replaced him with Robert Gates late last year, reiterated previous testimony to investigators that he didn't have early knowledge that Tillman was cut down by fellow Rangers, not by enemy militia, as was initially claimed. He told a House committee hearing that he'd always impressed upon Pentagon underlings the importance of telling the truth. "Early in my tenure...

After Rumsfeld, a new dawn? In the American movie Cool Hand Luke - a cult classic in the US - a drunken Paul Newman faces his jailer. "What we have here," intones the captain of Road Prison 36, "is a failure tocommunicate." The movie has provided fodder for a gaggle of bloggers, who now refer to USLieutenant General Douglas E Lute, President George W Bush's new "war czar", as "Cool HandLute". Lute recently made the rounds of official Washington, telling everyone that aside from theadvisability of invading Iraq in the first place (something with which, in private, he had realproblems),...

WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates scrapped plans to go on a four-nation tour of Latin America this week and will instead stay home to attend meetings on Iraq, the Pentagon announced Sunday. The meetings are related to a progress report on Iraq that is due to be delivered to Congress by July 15. Congress mandated the preliminary report and required it to be followed by another one in September. The report's findings could add to the pressure to end the war or change strategies. It is due out as a growing number of moderate Republicans, including Senator Richard Lugar...

Pullback Is Deemed Key To Forging a Consensus On Long-Haul Plans WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates and some allies in the Bush administration are seeking to build bipartisan political support for a long-term U.S. presence in Iraq by moving toward withdrawing significant numbers of troops from Iraq by the end of President Bush's term. The complicating factor is how long the administration will stick with its "surge" strategy of keeping high levels of troops in Iraq to try to tamp down violence there. On this issue, the administration -- and even the military -- is deeply divided. The longer...

ALARM - surprised Visit of Robert Gates in Baghdad BAGHDAD - the American secretary in Defense, Robert Gates, arrived Friday evening to Baghdad at the time of a surprised visit intended to ask the Iraqi government to progress in the process of national reconciliation, brought back a journalist of AFP.

DALLAS, May 3, 2007 – Almost 200 deployed troops got a Texas-sized homecoming today as Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates joined hundreds of friends, family members and local residents to welcome them home from the Middle East for two weeks of rest and recuperation leave. Kimberly Smith embraces Army Spc. Corie Barran at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport after he arrives home May 3 for two weeks of rest and recuperation leave from his deployment to Iraq. Photo by Donna Miles  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Gates took his place alongside the flag-waving, banner-carrying, chanting revelers gathered at Dallas/Fort...

WASHINGTON, April 4, 2007 – Security in Baghdad has improved even though only part of the planned increase of U.S. troops is in place, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today on a nationally syndicated radio program. “So far, so good,” Gates said on the Laura Ingraham Show, noting it is too early to draw conclusions. Al Qaeda continues to launch dramatic terror attacks against population centers, but Gates said some of these attacks are in reaction to the progress being made. “It’s been part of their strategy since last year to foment sectarian violence,” Gates said. “I think...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 28, 2007 – Defense leaders yesterday called on Congress to approve a further $2.4 billion to defeat the biggest killer of Americans in the Middle East: the improvised explosive device. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Peter Pace told the Senate Appropriations Committee that the fiscal 2007 emergency supplemental request includes money to fund research into defeating IEDs. The money is in addition to $2 billion Congress already has appropriated this year to deal with the problem. Gates stressed to the senators that this is an overriding concern...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27, 2007 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates called on Congress to quickly act on the fiscal 2007 supplemental request to fund ongoing operations in the war on terror. Gates, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Marine Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee today. President Bush is asking for $93.4 billion for the Defense Department, and that money is vital, Gates said. “If these additional funds are delayed, the military will be forced to engage in costly and counterproductive reprogramming actions starting this spring, in April,...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27, 2007 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told a small group of Boy Scouts they were on the right track, during a meeting at the Pentagon yesterday. “Congratulations for the awards that you’ve gotten (and for) being chosen to do this,” Gates told the eight Scouts representing the Boy Scouts of America’s various programs and regions of the country. The group was in town to present the organization’s annual report to the nation. The report is mandated by the organization’s congressional charter, Renee Fairrer, the National Council’s associate director of communications, said. The group presented Gates...

Excerpt - SEVILLE, Spain - Serial numbers and markings on explosives used in Iraq provide "pretty good" evidence that Iranians are providing either weapons or technology for militants there, Defense Secretary Robert Gates asserted Friday. Offering some of the first public details of evidence the military has collected, Gates said, "I think there's some serial numbers, there may be some markings on some of the projectile fragments that we found," that point to Iran. At the same time, however, he said he was somewhat surprised that recent raids by coalition and Iraqi forces in Iraq swept up some Iranians. ~...

Pentagon cuts stop-loss By Roxana Tiron Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is ordering military service chiefs to reduce the use of a controversial policy intended to keep troops in war zones beyond the end of their original commitments, according to a document obtained by The Hill. In a memo sent to the service chiefs, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and undersecretaries of defense, Gates asked to see plans to minimize the use of the so-called stop-loss policy for active duty and reserve components by the end of next month. Gates’s directive comes at a time when the...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2006 -- The U.S. military can’t lose in Iraq or Afghanistan, but the situation won’t improve beyond a certain point without significant political progress, outgoing Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said last night. “We're in that unusual situation where the Department of Defense is looked at for the situations in those countries, when the reality is that we can't lose a single military battle in either country at all, not possible,” Rumsfeld said in an interview with Brit Hume on Fox News Channel. “But we can't win without help from others.” The U.S. State Department and...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 13, 2006 -- Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld today thanked members of the Defense Department’s “America Supports You” program for their unwavering support to the men and women of the armed forces. “Hero Hugs” founder Bailey Reese meets with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld following the secretary’s remarks at the America Supports You Summit at the Pentagon, Dec. 13. Reese has sent more than 16,000 care packages to troops through her child-run organization based in Niceville, Fla. Photo by Carmen L. Burgess  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. America Supports You highlights support for U.S. servicemembers and...

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld leaves office Friday, Dec. 15 after six turbulent years of rebuilding the military for a post-Cold War era, while simultaneously overseeing service members he calls, "the best led, the best equipped, the best trained, the most capable -- in the world." As we met in his office on the 65th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, he was reflective about the past and worried about the future. Full Transcript Rumsfeld regrets using the phrase "the war on terror": "I say that because the word 'war' conjures up World War II more than it does...

"National Priorities:When a secretary of defense gets confirmed 95-2 apparently because he says we are not winning a war, you know Uncle Sam must have a sign on his back that says "kick me." We've come a long way from that day in April 1986 when President Ronald Reagan ordered Operation El Dorado Canyon, an air strike on Libya by two dozen F-111F fighter bombers in retaliation for a terrorist blast at a West Berlin disco that injured 200 people, including 63 U.S. soldiers, killing two. Back then we took the fight to our enemies.".....

Rumsfeld bids farewell to Pentagon By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer 10 minutes ago Leaving office, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld bade a sometimes emotional farewell Friday, saying the single worst day of his nearly six years there was when he learned of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse in Iraq. Rumsfeld choked up briefly while recalling a woman in Alaska giving him a bracelet last August as a reminder of the sacrifices by soldiers of the Army's 172nd Stryker Brigade, who whose year-long tour in Iraq was extended by four months to help try to quell sectarian violence in Baghdad....

I heard some of the confirmation hearings for the new SecDef and was impressed, providing they’ve changed the name of the office to the Secretary of Deference. I think they should have pressed him to list all the other countries he opposed “attacking” just so everyone’s clear and we can begin the new year on the same page. The Bush doctrine has been dead for some time, but this was the funeral oration. I don’t believe in “rope-a-dope,” and I don’t believe in the miraculous Israeli strike, and I don’t think the momentum can be reversed. It’s as if we...

Dear Secretary Rumsfeld, Thank you for your service during these difficult times. God Bless You and your family and know that you will be sadly missed.

...who brings down two hostile, tyrannous regimes in one year, and while a long regional war — actually the first stage in a worldwide war declared by terrorists for the past 20 years — was grinding on also managed the most radical transformation of the American armed forces in sixty years? I call Donald Rumsfeld the best Defense Secretary the U.S. has ever had. Close behind him, in my book, is Secretary Richard Cheney, and we have been lucky to have a number of other very good Secretaries of Defense during the past century. No one has had as tough...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31, 2006 -- A planned increase in Iraqi security forces is a result of ongoing assessments of the situation in Iraq and will allow coalition forces to shift to more of a supporting role in that country, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said here today. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld escorts Estonian Defense Minister Jurgen Ligi through a cordon of honor guards and into the Pentagon, Oct. 31. The two defense leaders met to discuss a range of international issues of mutual interest. Photo by James M. Bowman   '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Speaking after...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 23, 2006 – The United States is not looking to place any timetable on the Iraqi government's process of assuming responsibility for the country's security, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said here today. Rumsfeld spoke following meetings with Spanish Defense Minister Jose Antonio Alonso at the Pentagon. The secretary said that the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad and Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr., commander of Multinational Force Iraq, are working with the Iraqi government to see what can be accomplished in the near future. “What they are doing is just having a discussion about how they...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 20, 2006 -- Americans should not be surprised if tactics in Iraq change, since the situation in Iraq has evolved, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said today during a Pentagon news conference. Rumsfeld said commanders in Iraq are constantly adjusting their tactics, techniques and procedures to counter changes the enemy makes. “They are always reviewing the situation,” he said. The secretary said he and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Gen. Peter Pace, meet constantly with coalition leaders in Iraq. In fact, U.S. Central Command commander Army Gen. John Abizaid will meet with Rumsfeld,...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 18, 2006 – The innovative spirit is helping America win the war on terror, but it will remain a long, hard battle against a deadly, thinking foe, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told students at the Air University today. Rumsfeld spoke to the students at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala. At the end of the Cold War, many accused the United States of “taking a holiday from history,” he said. Americans were persuaded, he said, that emerging threats were exaggerated or were someone else’s problem or “would eventually go away if we just left them alone.” He said...

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...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 7, 2006 – Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld reflected today, the fifth anniversary of the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom, on successes already achieved in Afghanistan and those under way, noting that “the trajectory is a hopeful and promising one.” Writing an op-ed in today’s Washington Post, Rumsfeld recalled five years ago today, when President Bush announced the mission, designed to disrupt and destroy al-Qaeda operations in Afghanistan and the regime that had harbored and supported Osama bin Laden's terrorist network. “It was never going to be an easy mission. Afghanistan was among the world's poorest nations, with little...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2006 – As he leads the Defense Department through challenging times, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said during an interview that aired over the weekend that he and his senior military leaders have the utmost confidence in the men and women in uniform waging the war on terror. Rumsfeld echoed the words of Army Lt. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, commander of Multinational Corps Iraq, during a wide-ranging interview with CNN. He acknowledged the “absolutely amazing job” the troops are doing in Iraq “and how dedicated they are and how patriotic they are, how proud they are of...