Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld talks with reporters after appearing on NBC's Meet The Press on Sunday, June 26, 2005 in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
Posted on 07/01/2005 3:56:57 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
WASHINGTON — At the darkest moment of his Pentagon tenure, when the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal was gathering steam and many in Washington were betting on his swift exit, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld boarded a C-17 cargo plane last year and made an emergency trip to Baghdad.
There, Rumsfeld told a throng of U.S. troops that he had no intention of going down without a fight.
"It's a fact," Rumsfeld said. "I'm a survivor."
Back home, Rumsfeld's trip became fodder for late-night television.
"Yeah, a survivor about to be voted off the island," Jay Leno cracked on "The Tonight Show."
Yet in Washington's own brand of reality television, where Machiavellian intrigue is not a ratings game, Rumsfeld has done far more than survive. Five months into President Bush's second term, Rumsfeld's influence within the administration shows no sign of waning.
Even as the war in Iraq casts a long shadow over the reform agenda that Rumsfeld is pushing at the Pentagon, the Defense chief who remains a magnet for controversy is staying on the offensive.
With public support for the Iraq war declining and the number of critics on Capitol Hill growing, Rumsfeld in the last week emerged again as the Bush Cabinet's most prominent spokesman for the war effort. Three days before appearing on talk shows last Sunday, the 72-year-old Defense secretary withstood eight hours of congressional questioning — peppered with lawmakers' harsh criticism about the war's progress.
Afterward, aides said Rumsfeld spent little time worrying about critics such as Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), who characterized Iraq as a "quagmire" and called for the Defense secretary's resignation.
"He doesn't dwell and is always looking ahead to the next thing. This is not a guy who looks back and agonizes," said Pentagon spokesman Lawrence DiRita, ........
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Back in the Sixties, I went to the Firecracker 500 in Daytona.
The most interesting fact in this article is that the DOD has their own spy teams which report to miitary commanders and NOT the US embassies, and that this has been signed off on by the President.
Oh, never mind. I posted to the wrong thread about Rumsfeld!!
But a good post.
=^)
The man's intellect always makes his enemies seem like gnats.
I think I had better make myself another cup of coffee!!
He's a rock.
Don't you just hate that?
Seriously, I am interested in this little bypass of the State Department. It tells me that Rumsfeld and the President know exactly what the problems are at State.
My brow was furrowed over that one ;) I am intrigued by the topic. Can you point me to the other Rummy thread?
LOL. Now I am thoroughly befuddled. Going for coffee.
They realize there are too many embedded libs at state.
gave his Kalashnikov to Venezuela. LOL!!
Did you see the replay on Special Report from Letterman, I think? It showed Rummy interviewing himself on This Weak - with little stephy just sitting there - mute.
If this President didn't bypass the State Department, then I'd be all for impeaching him!!!!!!!
Saw it and wondered what significance Stephanopolis(?) played. Rumsfeld was again his brilliant self. You love him or you hate him.
ABC/NBC/CBS or whoever may have stumbled onto a new format for the news. Delete the anchor.
Great photo, what a team. I'm sooooo thankful to have them on our side.
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