Posted on 04/25/2003 9:39:08 PM PDT by Hipixs
Edited on 04/29/2004 2:02:26 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
WASHINGTON (CNN) --Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld demanded U.S. Army Secretary Tom White step down Friday, a senior Pentagon official said, a move that follows two years of contention between the two.
The official said Rumsfeld called White into his office and demanded his resignation, which White provided.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Read through arete's posts. He majors in gloom-and-doom. I've never seen him say anything positive, particularly about this administration.
Time after time Rumsfeld has taken pains to stress that the plan of attack was the brainchild of Tommy Franks. By signing off on it, Rumsfeld was indeed taking the counsel of a general serving him. Had he taken the advice of Shinseki, we would have a half million men on the ground in Iraq.
Those that would portray Rumsfeld as going it alone as the lone gunfighter are denying reality.
I am watching this development with interest. The current system forces people out just at the point that they are figuring out how things work and have become truly effective. The result is that General Officers are frequently outmanuevered by long term savvy bureaucrats who are only interested in their own narrow interests. I have watched one particular superannuated Army civilian roll over a long succession of Army Chiefs - they are all gone and he is still in the chair.
I know that there is a widely held view that Clinton hand picked his generals. But, this is not actually true. After the Homosexuals in the military debacle, Clinton backed off the military and left selection of senior general officers to the services - he didn't want to take the political heat. Rumsfeld, on the other hand, is personally involved. You don't get the job (all 4-star jobs, and some 3-star)without several personal interviews, and the service nominees have not fared well. He is remaking DoD in his own image - hope he gets it right.
White's greatest contribution to the Army will be his reforms of the personnel and manning systems. This has received little attention, but will be an enduring legacy. He has had to fight the personnel weenies every step of the way, but has done the right thing. I hope his reforms will survive him, I'm sure that the sharks are already attacking the carcass.
On 4/16/03 [and several days thereafter], CSPAN aired a documentary Inside the Pentagon which is still available on streaming video [1 1/2 hours]. The 7:00AM meeting is attended by the Joint Chief and several other military officers. Rumsfeld meets several times a day with various military and civilian officials.
That's revolutionary!
Still, I'm cautious of swapping an entrenched civlian bureacratcy for an entrenched and politicized general officer corps.
If you are going to read a history of my postings, you will find that I was wildly supportive of GW right up to the point of needing to attack Iraq. After 9/11, I advocated the use of ruthless military power to punish those responsible and I didn't hedge by saying the Saudi's are "our friends" and the Paks and Turks are "on our side, dont-cya know". If you are going to be dropping bombs, let's at least be dropping them on the right people. The Dept. of Homeland Security and the Patriot Act(s) rubbed my conservative bones the wrong way as well along with the continuing growth of even more big government. I didn't really turn negative on the economy until last year -- far later than the reality and definitely later most other people who follow such things. Of course, that is just seeing things as they are rather than trying to paint everything as rosy. I openly admit that I am a conservative and not a party loyalist. So flame away!
Richard W.
It started before him, however... Remember AAN?
Besides, Rummy has great wit and sure knows how to put idiot reporters in their place. : )
Not a typo. The Crusader program was cancelled and White was under fire for his Enron connections. See: Rumsfeld cancels Crusader
What a shock!
And when Pace said he meets with Rumsfeld anywhere from 30 min to 8 hrs per day [watch the video] and when Myers recently stated that if he saw the SecDef any more often he would need a bed a Rummy's house, it was all fake. </sarc off>
Levin's home state plays host to General Dynamics Land Systems Division, one the main contractors who would be hurt by the cancellation of Crusader.
which would explain the resistance by Congress to terminate the Crusader program. It also now makes me wonder if White may have been promised something by General Dynamics after he retired from gov't. employment......if the Crusdader program really is too expensive and, from little I understand about things military, is truly not the direction to take things in the future with our military, it surely makes one wonder the motivations of White; it makes clear the motivations of Rat senator Levin.
But then we have to remember that "them" are for the most part Clintonista era career climbers who used the spines of those who made things work to climb to the top.
Stay Safe ......keep an eye on em SLB !!
We still have "Force XXI" floating around. In fact the 4th ID is considered the ultimate in Force XXI forces.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.