[Destro]

Diplomacy is not about public clarification. Behind closed doors brow beat all you want. Rumsfeld public position meant that the Germans and French could not back down because they would lose face. Diplomacy is about accomidation.

I know you like Rumsfeld and he is a great managaer but he is no diplomat. Gen. Schwartzkoff was very public with his criticisim of Rumsfeld as were other high ranking generals.

There was no Machiavellian plot by Rumsfeld to find our true allies when he went to Europe and was so abrasive he had the Germans lecturing us in English. Good diplomacy heads off stupidity like that at the pass.