Rumsfeld Ponders War Progress in Memo - Report

[underpants]

http://www.abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/reuters20031022_36.html

Oct. 22 — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has no yardstick for measuring progress in its war on terrorism and is in for a long stay in Iraq and Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld wrote in a memo last week to senior staff officials, USA Today reported on Wednesday.

Sharply diverging from upbeat public comments, Rumsfeld writes that it is not possible to transform the Pentagon quickly enough to effectively fight the anti-terror war and that a new institution might be necessary to do that, the newspaper reported.

"Are we winning or losing the Global War on Terrorism?" Rumsfeld asks in the memo as quoted by the newspaper.

He cites "mixed results" against al Qaeda, "reasonable progress tracking down top Iraqis" and "somewhat slower progress" in apprehending Taliban leaders, the report said.

[dixiechiken]

1. Maybe someone can explain this to me ...

"Sharply diverging from upbeat public comments, Rumsfeld writes that it is not possible to transform the Pentagon quickly enough to effectively fight the anti-terror war and that a new institution might be necessary to do that, the newspaper reported."


:wtf:

ANOTHER new "institution"??? What the hell is the Department of Homeland Security's function, if not to "fight the anti-terror war"???

:shrug:


We are so screwed ... :(

[zanana]

3. Another "accidental" leak....

Or a carefully planned one? The use of the words "Rumsfeld" and "new institution" in the same sentence scares the hell out of me.

[underpants]

6. I think this leak is from the military weary of a shake up

Re-alignment and reconstitution is something that has been in the cards since the end of the cold war but the brass is uncertain about it. We have heard of outright shouting matches and Rummy questioning the Joint Chiefs 'patriotism' for not following W (read:Perle, Wolf, Rummy) blindly. I think they are trying to slow down the change or at least study it more, they really don't like Rummy and they want to stall the change until hopefully he is GONE!

The re-alignment is the WHAT but the HOW WHEN WHO and WHERE are questions that are not being asked. Like when W said "I will lower your taxes" okay that's the WHAT that everyone agreed was to happen but HOW WHEN....

[Neutrino]

2. Rare candor from Fieldmarshal Rummel--

shows that he's not totally delusional--just publicly--so he'll fit
in with the rest.

[TahitiNut]

4. duplicate

See http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=178103

I'm locking this thread. Interested DUers are welcome to continue discussing this in the referenced thread.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation,
TahitiNut - DU moderator

[papau]

5. Great quotes saying the obvious - but a change from 2/03 Iraq cake walk

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-3295467,00.html

Rumsfeld Questions U.S. in Terror Fight Wednesday October 22, 2003 2:46 PM By MATT KELLEY Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -

<snip>"It is pretty clear that the coalition can win in Afghanistan and Iraq in one way or another, but it will be a long, hard slog," he wrote. <snip>

"Are we capturing, killing or deterring and dissuading more terrorists every day than the madrassas and the radical clerics are recruiting, training and deploying against us?"<snip>

"The U.S. is putting relatively little effort into a long-range plan, but we are putting a great deal of effort into trying to stop terrorists," Rumsfeld wrote. "The cost-benefit ratio is against us! Our cost is billions against the terrorists' costs of millions."