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JOHNSTOWN, Pa., Feb. 23 — As Democratic Congressional leaders escalate their challenge to the Bush administration’s policy in Iraq, one of the most influential players will be that unlikely darling of the antiwar left, Representative John P. Murtha of Pennsylvania. Mr. Murtha’s power comes not just from his role as chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, in charge of the huge spending bill for the war that will advance in the House in March. It also derives from his close alliance with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and from his popularity, ever since he called for an end to the war in...

HANOI, June 5 — The United States and Vietnam agreed today to increase their military contacts and to discuss additional ways to broaden their defense cooperation, American officials said. The understanding was sealed in talks between senior Vietnamese officials and Donald H. Rumsfeld, who was making his first official visit to Vietnam as defense secretary. The two nations, Mr. Rumsfeld declared with evident satisfaction early this evening, had decided to step up "exchanges at all levels of the military." Vietnam was an important stop on an Asian swing that has already taken Mr. Rumsfeld to a meeting of defense experts...

"Sunni Arab opposition to Iraq's draft constitution has increased the potential for instability and called into question U.S. hopes for substantial troop cuts next spring, the top U.S. Commander in Iraq said Friday (General George Casey)." _______ In my opinion, we should expect to be in Iraq a long time. I believe that we need to establish permanent bases there as we did in Japan and Germany after World War II. There would be many benefits to this strategy. Also, I advise President Bush to stay the course until the job is completed. Respectfully submitted, J. Scott Davis Veteran: U.S....

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 - With lawmakers facing tough questions at home about the war in Iraq, Senator John W. Warner, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, says he intends to summon Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld quickly for a hearing when Congress returns next week. Mr. Warner, a Virginia Republican who is one of the most important Congressional voices on military policy, said mounting numbers of dead and wounded Americans, the contentious process of drafting an Iraqi constitution and the economic cost of the war were adding up to new anxiety in Congress. "The level of concern is, I...

SINGAPORE, Saturday, June 4 - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, in an unusually blunt public critique of China, said Saturday that Beijing's military spending threatened the delicate security balance in Asia and called for an emphasis instead on political freedom and open markets. In a keynote address at an Asian security conference here, Mr. Rumsfeld argued that China's investment in missiles and up-to-date military technology posed a risk not only to Taiwan and to American interests, but also to nations across Asia that view themselves as China's trading partners, not rivals. He said no "candid discussion of China" could neglect...

London I think that this could still fail." Those words - uttered by a senior American officer in Baghdad last week - probably gave opponents of the war in Iraq, particularly those clamoring for a hasty exit, a bit of a kick. They should be careful what they wish for. For history strongly suggests that a hasty American withdrawal from Iraq would be a disaster. "If we let go of the insurgency," said another of the officers quoted anonymously last week, "then this country could fail and go back into civil war and chaos." As many of the war's opponents...

WASHINGTON, May 10 - Ask Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to define his legacy, and he cuts the question short: "Don't. Hold off on it. There will be plenty of time." With a full list of policy initiatives ahead and travel plans penciled in through the Beijing Olympics of 2008, Mr. Rumsfeld gives every indication of serving out the rest of the Bush administration, confounding those who predicted his departure even after President Bush refused, twice, to accept his resignation over the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. "I don't think of myself as a short-timer," said Mr. Rumsfeld, who turns 73...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 17 - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Thursday that the Pentagon was closely monitoring the growth of China's navy as part of that country's overall military buildup. "It is an issue that the department thinks about and is concerned about and is attentive to," Mr. Rumsfeld said when asked at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing about intelligence projections that the size of the Chinese fleet could surpass that of the United States Navy within a decade. The expansion of China's navy is just one aspect of Beijing's military expansion that Pentagon and intelligence analysts are watching....

Bush Budget May Fund Program That Congress Cut Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld sent a memo last month to then-Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham saying next year's budget should include funds to resume study of building an earth-penetrating nuclear weapon designed to destroy hardened underground targets. An Energy Department official said yesterday that $10.3 million to restart that study is expected to be included in the Bush administration's budget, which is to be released next week. The study, which had been undertaken at the Los Alamos, Sandia and Livermore national laboratories, was halted late last year after Congress deleted $27.5 million...

GUEST OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR Los Angeles UNDER questioning from an American soldier wanting to know why he was forced to use "hillbilly armor" on his truck, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld could only admit to his troops that they lacked the right stuff: "You go to war with the Army you have, not the Army you might want or wish to have at a later time." Many are taking the exchange, along with alarming new statistics on military preparedness from the House Armed Services Committee, as proof that the Bush administration has failed to give soldiers in Iraq the equipment they need...

  United States Department of DefenseSpeechOn the web: http://www.defenselink.mil/speeches/2003/sp20030523-secdef0222.html Media contact: media@defenselink.mil or +1 (703) 697-5131 Public contact: public@defenselink.mil or +1 (703) 428-0711 U.S. Naval Academy Commencement Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, Annapolis, MD , Friday, May 23, 2003. H.T. Johnson – Thank you for those kind words.   Members of the Class of 2003 -- What a day this is.  My congratulations to you all.   My colleague, Secretary Tom Ridge -- It is good to see you here, and we thank you for all you do for our country.  ...

WASHINGTON, April 19 — It was not the heat of war that rattled Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, but the lull beforehand. Meeting with advisers a couple of weeks before fighting began, Mr. Rumsfeld, usually supremely self-assured, suddenly insisted, "I need help." The United Nations would not support the war. Turkey had shut its doors to coalition troops. His desire for quick military action against Iraq was stalled, and Mr. Rumsfeld was looking for ways to move it off the diplomatic dime. He found himself in a rare position — not in control. "It was beyond his realm," said someone...

<p>WASHINGTON - Three days after Pentagon enemies leaked stories accusing him of trying to run the Iraq war on the cheap, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld took to the lectern and, with his usual gleam-in-the-eye confidence, struck back.</p> <p>''What we all know is the strategy is working,'' he said on Thursday. ''The coalition has secured the majority of Iraq's oil wells for the Iraqi people, secured key roads and bridges ... and has now arrived near the regime's doorstep, all in less than two weeks.''</p>

(TownHall Meeting at Aviano Air Base in Italy) Rumsfeld: (Cheers, applause.) Thank you very much. Thank you. (Applause continuing.) Thank you. It's great to be here. Colonel Ryder, thank you so much. Colonel Scarpolini, where are you? There you are. Thank you for your hospitality. Distinguished Italian officials of government and posts here, we deeply appreciate your hospitality and your support for this wonderful base and for the men and women in uniform. General Moorhead, it's good to see you, and men and women of the armed forces. I thank you for that welcome. Without any question, the best part...

WASHINGTON, Aug 01, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- Pentagon officials met Thursday with representatives of Israel and Egypt to discuss a U.S. proposal to reduce American participation in the Sinai peacekeeping force. The 11-nation Multinational Force and Observers has been patrolling the area between the two countries for two decades. The 865 Americans there make up nearly half the total 1,836 soldiers, sailors, pilots and other uniformed members of the combined force. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld wants to drop the U.S. commitment to a couple of dozen people, freeing up American troops for combat service. Department of Defense...

WASHINGTON, Jul 19, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld ordered an internal investigation into who leaked a highly classified document on possible military actions to topple Iraq's Saddam Hussein, officials said Friday. The investigation, which has not been publicly announced, is being conducted by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, whose primary missions are criminal investigation and counterintelligence. The Pentagon public affairs office would not comment, but the investigation of the leak to The New York Times was confirmed by several senior officials, including some who said they had been questioned in their offices...