Word: aspin
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...speech Sunday night expressing his regrets about the deaths but calling the mission "very successful." By Monday morning Clinton, returning to his hotel in San Francisco after an early jog, learned that the situation was more serious. He took a conference call from Lake, Secretary of Defense Les Aspin and two other advisers, who told him of the extent of casualties. "How did this happen?" Clinton demanded of Aspin, who put most of the blame on a U.N. command and control structure that had been unable to rush well-equipped troops to the Rangers' rescue. During another conference call later...
Meanwhile, as the boss was flying home from California Tuesday, Christopher and a reluctant Aspin had been sent to brief congressional leaders on Russia (which drew only one question) and Somalia. In a mistaken attempt at Socratic dialogue, Aspin asked the lawmakers what they thought should be done. This disastrous performance managed only to convince the congressional leaders that the Administration had no clue as to what policy to pursue...
...Wednesday, stories were going around that a week earlier, Aspin had turned down a request from Major General Thomas Montgomery, the senior American military commander in Somalia, for reinforcements -- including tanks and other armored vehicles that, had they been available, could have rescued the Rangers in the Oct. 3 fire fight much sooner. Aspin eventually confirmed that, and gave his reason: at a time when the U.S. was considering dispatching a peacekeeping force to Bosnia, he did not want to make it look as if the nation was increasing, rather than reducing, its force in Somalia. Though Aspin will...
Defense Secretary Les Aspin refused to remove Admiral Frank Kelso II from his post as Chief of Naval Operations, overruling Navy Secretary John Dalton. In a report on the scandalous 1991 Navy Tailhook convention, Dalton had placed ultimate responsibility on Kelso for the pilots' sexual assaults...
SOMALIA Now that Defense Secretary Les Aspin has said the March 31, 1994, withdrawal date of U.S. troops is "etched in stone," there is little doubt Somalia will revert to the ruinous state that inspired America's intervention in the first place. But a policy that truly cared about ends would be open- ended. However one defines the Somali mission, Clinton's desire to finish it "in the right way" ought to mean staying until the possibility of reversion is more than just "reasonably" foreclosed. Seeking an exit strategy before sailing in harm's way is smart, but it must...