Word: rumsfeld
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...number of U.S. troops in Iraq--currently 138,000 in 17 combat brigades--won't come down in the foreseeable future. And the Bush Administration insists it's prepared to keep forces in Iraq until the country is pacified. "We don't have an exit strategy," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said during a surprise visit to Baghdad last week. "We have a victory strategy." But behind the scenes, military planners in Iraq are putting in place a program that provides a glimpse of the future of the counterinsurgency. As the bulk of U.S. troops retreats from the front lines, small...
...Donald Rumsfeld headed for the exit by the end of this year? While speculation has been hot that the Secretary of Defense will depart early in President George W. Bush's second term, don't bet on it, his senior aides tell TIME. Rumsfeld has been sending strong signals that he's in no hurry to leave: asking applicants for senior posts whether they're willing to stay until the end of the term and talking to aides about planning foreign trips years down the road...
Another sign he may be sticking around is his choice for a No. 2: Navy Secretary Gordon England, 67, whom Bush has nominated as Deputy Defense Secretary and who could face confirmation hearings as early as this week. Now that Rumsfeld is pushing plans to transform the Defense Department into a leaner, more agile fighting machine, he wants a deputy with more business savvy to see those programs completed. England's predecessor, Paul Wolfowitz, preferred strategizing grand operations like the Iraq war over managing the nuts and bolts of the department, which is what a deputy defense chief traditionally does...
...Rumsfeld's terse tone, and the testy response it elicited from some Shiite leaders underscores the difficulties the U.S. will face in negotiating a relationship with an independent Iraqi government in the months ahead. The Defense Secretary went to Baghdad demanding continuity with the transition begun by U.S. administrator J. Paul Bremer, but the elections turned out to be a break with what had gone before. The resulting government won't be much impressed by Rumsfeld's warnings against corruption and cronyism; after all, those are qualities Iraqis have long complained were all too present in the U.S.-installed Allawi...
...that it is independent of the U.S. It's going to face increasing pressure to ask the Americans to leave - even though it still needs them for its own security. The last thing the new Iraqi leadership can afford to be seen doing is snapping to attention when Don Rumsfeld barks commands...