Posted on 11/21/2006 8:30:44 AM PST by MNJohnnie
Rumsfeld
By Douglas Feit Sunday, November 19, 2006
Much of what you know about Donald Rumsfeld is wrong.
I know, because I worked intimately with him for four years, from the summer of 2001 until I left the Pentagon in August 2005.
Through countless meetings and private conversations, I came to learn his traits, frame of mind and principles -- characteristics wholly at odds with the standard public depiction of Rumsfeld, particularly now that he has stepped down after a long, turbulent tenure as defense secretary, a casualty of our toxic political climate.
I want to set the record straight: Don Rumsfeld is not an ideologue. He did not refuse to have his views challenged. He did not ignore the advice of his military advisers. And he did not push single-mindedly for war in Iraq. He was motivated to serve the national interest by transforming the military, though it irritated people throughout the Pentagon.
Rumsfeld's drive to modernize created a revealing contrast between his Pentagon and the State Department -- where Colin Powell was highly popular among the staff. After four years of Powell's tenure at State, the organization chart there would hardly tip anyone off that 9/11 had occurred -- or even that the Cold War was over.
Rumsfeld is a bundle of paradoxes, like a fascinating character in a work of epic literature. And as my high school teachers drummed into my head, the best literature reveals that humans are complex. They are not the all-good or all-bad, all-brilliant or all-dumb figures that inhabit trashy novels and news stories. Fine literature teaches us the difference between appearance and reality.
Because of his complexity, Rumsfeld often is misread. His politics are deeply conservative but he was radical in his drive to force change in every area he oversaw. He is strong-willed and hard-driving but he built his defense strategies and Quadrennial Defense Reviews on calls for intellectual humility.
Those of us in his inner circle heard him say over and over again: Our intelligence, in all senses of the term, is limited. We cannot predict the future. We must continually question our preconceptions and theories. If events contradict them, don't suppress the bad news; rather, change your preconceptions and theories.
If an ideologue is someone to whom the facts don't matter, then Rumsfeld is the opposite of an ideologue. He insists that briefings for him be full of facts, thoughtfully organized and rigorously sourced. He demands that facts at odds with his key policy assumptions be brought to his attention immediately. "Bad news never gets better with time," he says, and berates any subordinate who fails to rush forward to him with such news. He does not suppress bad news; he acts on it.
Rumsfeld's drive to overhaul the Pentagon -- to drop outdated practices, programs and ideas -- antagonized many senior military officers and civilian officials in the department. He pushed for doing more with less. He pushed for reorganizing offices and relationships to adapt to a changing world. After 9/11, he created the Northern Command (the first combatant command that included the U.S. homeland among its areas of responsibility), a new undersecretary job for intelligence and a new assistant secretary job for homeland defense.
Seeking to improve civil-military cooperation, Rumsfeld devised new institutions for the Pentagon's top civilian and military officials to work face to face on strategic matters and new venues for all of them to gather a few times a year with the combatant commanders. He also conceived and pushed through a thorough revision of how U.S. military forces are based, store equipment, move and train with partners around the world -- something that was never done before in U.S. history.
On Iraq, Rumsfeld helped President Bush analyze the dangers posed by Saddam Hussein's regime. Given Saddam's history -- starting wars; using chemical weapons against foreign and domestic enemies; and training, financing and otherwise supporting various terrorists -- Rumsfeld helped make the case that leaving him in power entailed significant risks.
But in October 2002, Rumsfeld also wrote a list of the risks involved in removing Saddam from power. (I called the list his "parade of horribles" memo.) He reviewed it in detail with the president and the National Security Council. Rumsfeld's warnings about the dangers of war -- including the perils of a post-Saddam power vacuum -- were more comprehensive than anything I saw from the CIA, State or elsewhere. Rumsfeld continually reminded the president that he had no risk-free option for dealing with the dangers Saddam posed.
Historians will sort out whether Rumsfeld was too pushy with his military, or not pushy enough; whether he micromanaged Ambassador L. Paul Bremer and the Coalition Provisional Authority, or gave them too much slack. I know more about these issues than most people, yet I don't have all the information for a full analysis. I do know, however, that the common view of Rumsfeld as a close-minded man, ideologically wedded to the virtues of a small force, is wrong.
Rumsfeld had to resign, I suppose, because our bitter and noxious political debate of recent years has turned him into a symbol. His effectiveness was damaged. For many in Congress and the public, the Rumsfeld caricature dominated their view of the Iraq war and the administration's ability to prosecute it successfully. Even if nominee Robert Gates pursues essentially the same strategies, he may garner more public confidence.
What Rumsfeld believed, said and did differs from the caricature. The public picture of him today is drawn from news accounts reflecting the views of people who disapproved of his policies or disliked him. Rumsfeld, after all, can be brutally demanding and tough.
But I believe history will be more appreciative of him than the first draft has been. What will last is serious history, which, like serious literature, can distinguish appearance from reality.
Douglas J. Feith, a professor at Georgetown University, served as undersecretary of defense for policy from 2001 to 2005.
I'm going to make some deer steak
Interesting note on Rangel's plan for a "draft"
He said having a draft would not necessarily mean everyone called to duty would have to serve. Instead, "young people (would) commit themselves to a couple of years in service to this great republic, whether it's our seaports, our airports, in schools, in hospitals," with a promise of educational benefits at the end of service.
www.opinionjournal.com
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So it's not really a military draft he's interested in...he's interested in making more folks dependent on Big Government by making them involuntary employees.
Yeah I suppose now that he is not the current knife for the DBM to hammer into GW's back, they will allow nice things to be said about him.
Not this time I might if I kill another deer
First of all...notice it was written AFTER Rummy resigned...
Second of all....I saw Seymour Hersh on Hairball last night...and he was just plain nasty about Feith, Wolfowicz, Perle, and others that he feels have not only steered Cheney wrong, who then used the puppet strings to get Bush to attack Iraq...
But, according to Hersh, they are STILL working to get Bush to attack Iran, even though the CIA has told them that Iran has NO NUKES..and is no where near close to having NUKES.
sooooooooo...re: this article, I can see the MSM just ripping it apart for the above mentioned reasons.
You KNOW, that is not my opinion...I love Rummy, and I loved this article...just warning all.
Not if it was a clean shot. (They just drop and don't wiggle.)
I have tried tracing my family roots, and did not come up with the info from the link you sent. It does sound plausible though. The problem is that lots of Cajuns who upon arrival to South Louisiana changed their names. We think Lormand was derived from another name, perhaps Armand as suggested in the link.
Thanks pal, you provide more than just a thread for us.
Tancredo is talking about a plan by the CFR...Council on Foreign Relations...that wants the USA, Mexico and Canada to be just "North America"....
Having no borders...except around the outside along the oceans...one reason given, that it would be easier for the three countries to defend just the oceanic borders in case of attack...as a "unit" rather than individual countries.
President Bush has been accused of signing a paper putting that into effect during a meeting in Crawford between Vincente Fox, Bush and Martin.
"Now if our CINO Talking Heads, Columnists and websites like NRO would finally grow a pair and speak truth to DBM on Iraq we might get some place."
Hate to be a wet blanket, but all that's got a snowball's chance of EVER happening.
What do you think about it?
LOL
I am assuming it is crapola...can't imagine President Bush doing anything like that.
I was/am a "snowflake", a fan of Tony Snow..and used to be on his thread most days when he had a talk show.
He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations...and was asked about this plan...(it was just a plan)..he never really talked at all about his membership with the CFR, or "the plan".
I am VERY LEERY about the CFR...and when I heard Tancredo last night...he sounded very 'tin foil hat conspiracy-like"....but, I don't know what he does/doesn' know.
My opinion is....I would HATE HATE it if it ever did happen, and so I pray it is not true.
I'm with you. Bush would not do that. Keep Praying.
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