WP's William M. Arkin: Don't Worry Osama: We're Busy, and Saving Money!

[Pirate Smile]

Don't Worry Osama: We're Busy, and Saving Money!
Code Name of the Week: Inspired Venture

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U.S. Central Command, equally befuddled and overwhelmed by Iraq and Iran, decided that of all countries, Pakistan should be where it saves money, combining a separate special operations exercise --Inspired Venture -- with Inspired Gambit.

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On July 25, 2005, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld sent a "snowflake" - one of his flurry of memorandums - to all commands directing them to reduce exercises to an "absolute minimum."
"Nearly four years into this war, I still consistently see requests for large numbers of U.S. forces to participate in exercises all around the world. It is hard for me to believe we have truly reduced our participation in exercises to the absolute minimum," Rumsfeld wrote.
Rumsfeld demanded "measurable progress" from each command in finding reductions. CENTCOM inexplicably combined the two separate "Inspired" exercises into one to comply with the Secretary's edict.

It seems like there are two possibilities: In the so-called war against terrorism, either CENTCOM military exercises in Pakistan are operationally significant enough to merit high priority and no cuts, or CENTCOM is a minor player in Pakistan, overshadowed by the CIA and U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), so much so that the exercises are merely window dressing in a hopeless bilateral relationship and they should just have been cancelled altogether.

I have a hard time understanding the planned 2006-2007 CENTCOM "exercise" schedule that includes routine activities in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, the UAE, and Egypt, while Pakistan is cut.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/earlywarning/2006/04/dont_worry_osama_were_busy_and_1.html#14734