Posted on 10/24/2003 2:30:16 PM PDT by Lando Lincoln
By Bobby Eberle
Talon News
October 24, 2003
As criticism of a memo written by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to top Pentagon officials continues, the defense secretary made an unscheduled appearance at Thursday's Pentagon briefing to address the matter first hand.
As Talon News reported on Wednesday (previous story), the memo in question (see raw text), dated October 16, 2003, was addressed to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Richard Myers, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Peter Pace, and Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith. According to Rumsfeld, the purpose of the memo was to incite discussion from the four recipients regarding the war on terrorism and not necessarily provide his personal opinions about its progress.
Responding to comments made by Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), who cited the memo as an example of the Bush administration's lack of a plan for Iraq, Defense Departments Spokesman Larry Dirita said that Rumsfeld did not intend for the memo to reveal some "hidden truth."
"He asked questions, for example, how do we measure risk across the board," Dirita said. "And this is something that's reflected in this memo, how do we measure risk, and in this case the risk of capturing and killing terrorists versus not knowing how many may be being created at the same time. So it's a measurement issue."
Dirita added, "He asked how can we best organize the force, which is what's reflected in this memo. He has asked what key capabilities does the U.S. currently lack. And he's asked how can we measure readiness. And those are what's reflected in that memo."
During the briefing, a reporter asked whether Secretary Rumsfeld believes statements such as "the DOD is not capable of changing fast enough to succeed in the war on terror" which appear in the memo.
"He was asked to take this job with the eye toward transforming the department," Dirita responded. "He has engaged the senior leadership of the department to do that. In some areas there are things that the department is doing very well and reacting very well to the global war on terror."
"In other areas he's asking the question, are these things we should continue trying to do, are there other ways that it could be done better, either within this organization or elsewhere," Dirita added. "And I really must emphasize that he -- these aren't the kinds of things that he tends to know the answer to. He's asking questions."
Dirita said that although the issue of how a memo sent to four people was leaked to the media is a "vexing question," there will be no formal investigation into the leak.
Near the end of the briefing, Secretary Rumsfeld appeared and addressed questions regarding the memo directly.
The defense secretary began his comments by asking reporters if they looked up the word "slog" in the dictionary. The word was used by Rumsfeld in his memo.
"The Oxford Dictionary, I'm told by Mark, has a definition of 'slog,' the preferred one, I believe, which is: 'slog -- to hit or strike hard, to drive with blows, to assail violently.'" Rumsfeld said. "And that's precisely what the U.S. has been doing, and intends to continue to do."
"We're finding these terrorists where they are, and we're rooting them out, and we're capturing them, we're killing them. It's difficult work. It won't be over any time soon. And I will close by saying it will be a long hard slog, indeed," Rumsfeld added.
When asked if he was disturbed that the memo was leaked, Rumsfeld said that he understood what happened.
"I sent it to four people. One of the people was out of town, and his office received it, thought, 'Those are interesting questions. I'll staff it out.' Circulated it to a number of people, so that by the time the boss got back he'd have their thoughts. And one of the people that it was circulated to, obviously, thought I'd issued it as a press release -- which, I might add, was not the case," Rumsfeld replied.
Rumsfeld was also asked whether he believed that the DOD "is not capable of changing fast enough to be successful in the war on terrorism."
"Big institutions don't change fast," Rumsfeld answered. "That we know. First of all, it isn't the task of the Department of Defense to be successful in the global war on terror, it's the task of our country, all of our governmental agencies, public and private, as well as 90-plus other countries. So no one department of government can do it all."
"And the questions that I raised is, are we organized," Rumsfeld said. "First of all, I look at my own department and say, are we doing everything that we can do within our capabilities and our statutory authority? And then I look beyond it and say, are there things that we're not arranged to do that we can, within our own resources, adjust ourselves as to how we're organized, trained and equipped, to do a better job for a new set of problems?"
The defense secretary added that he continuously asks questions and has been doing it his "entire life."
"Then the question beyond DOD is, is the U.S. government properly organized? And I think of things, for example, like the fact that USIA doesn't exist anymore. And is it appropriate -- might there be a need for some new element that -- a 21st century version of that that could help the United States as a country communicate with the world on some of these important issues? So it was more of a searching look that was involved in this memorandum," Rumsfeld said.
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He is a master of wit.
It's hard to change the institutional culture, so asking questions can be intimidating to some of Pentagon folks.
I wish Rumsfeld the best dealing with our war on terrorism, especially Iraq.
I love his wit:
"The Oxford Dictionary, I'm told by Mark, has a definition of 'slog,' the preferred one, I believe, which is: 'slog -- to hit or strike hard, to drive with blows, to assail violently.'" Rumsfeld said. "And that's precisely what the U.S. has been doing, and intends to continue to do."
They generally have poor bladder control. They soil themselves when adults like Rumsfeld speak - and - they soil themselves from giddiness over remarks made from the moronic likes of Michael Moore. I'm reminded of the classic photo of the Frenchman weeping while the Nazis marched on Paris.
He has tossed the ball to his brain trust. Let's see what they come up with. It's fish or cut bait time. Election time beckons.
I'm surprised that Rummy can't smell the CYA/BS coming from the now exposed leaker of the memo.
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