Word: rumsfeld
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...wasn't so very long ago that the name Donald Rumsfeld sent shivers down the spines of Washington's most battle-hardened bureaucratic warriors. In the 1970s, when Rumsfeld was chief of staff and later Secretary of Defense under President Gerald R. Ford, he was a fearless backroom operator. Henry Kissinger once admitted that Rumsfeld was the only person ever to get the best of him in a political fight. Rumsfeld's inside moves during the Ford years were so clever and complex that he developed a cult following among conservatives. He was the man who would stop at almost...
George W. Bush announced Friday his choice to succeed Gen. Hugh Shelton as the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, a man with the perfect resume to be the third leg of the Bush-Rumsfeld Pentagon triangle: Currently vice chairman. Former head of the Air Force's space command. Former commander of the Pacific Air Forces. And no less importantly (especially in the personal-chemistry Bush Administration), the Kansas City native is by all accounts a pretty likable guy. Marine Gen. Peter Pace, who was also in Crawford with Bush and Rumsfeld...
...Donald Rumsfeld arrived at the Department of Defense with a reputation as a formidable Beltway get-things-done-er, the only man Henry Kissinger feared facing at the negotiating table. He?d even held the job before. And so when George W. Bush told him to tackle the most overdue job in town - redesigning the military along post-Cold-War lines, and securing the cooperation of Congress and the Pentagon to make it happen - everybody figured Rummy had at least a fighting chance...
...Last Friday, Rumsfeld apparently surrendered, turning decisions on force reductions (which, thanks to the straitened fiscal situation in Washington, are necessary to pay for restructuring) over to the heads of the individual services, who are expected to decide not to reduce forces at all. To his credit, Rummy spent this week claiming he is still in there fighting - which doubtless he is - and explaining rather tortuously why he hasn?t even lost a battle...
...this is not to take a stand either for or against what Rumsfeld and O?Neill were out to do - although I do find both men?s quest on the sympathetic side. That is not the case with the week?s third case, Gary Condit...