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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: greenspirit who wrote (203686)	11/17/2001 3:41:22 PM
From: CYBERKEN	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Good article. Powell is at a very high risk of becoming the Bill Rogers of the Bush administration. If he can't get with the program, look for him to step down the morning after the Bush landslide in 2004-and for Rice to immediately step in...

To: greenspirit who wrote (203686)	11/17/2001 3:58:00 PM
From: Thomas A Watson	Respond to of 769670

Defense Secretary Brings a Steadiness to War Effort, Leaves the Bravado to Others By Calvin Woodward Associated Press Writer Published: Nov 17, 2001 WASHINGTON (AP) - For a man whose epithets are not much saltier than "by golly," Donald H. Rumsfeld can tick people off, and the list of the offended grew during his first months as defense secretary. Members of Congress resented how he dismissed their worries about closing military bases. "Life's hard," he said. His independent streak was stirring grumbles in the Pentagon, too. What a difference a war makes. Yesterday's brusqueness is today's steadfastness. Characteristics that had the former Navy aviator close to the ropes before Sept. 11 have become his strengths in putting forward the public face of the war on terrorism. "He's keeping secrets, he looks strong and that's what you want," said military analyst Joseph Cirincione. "A few months ago those same qualities looked arrogant and ignorant. "He's mastered the art of looking important and in command even while he tells you very little." Rumsfeld is on display more than ever, coming forward almost daily to discuss the war effort but also, increasingly, in appearances such as his recent visits to the rubble of the World Trade Center and the Navy's boot camp in Illinois. His televised briefings have become great theater, featuring unrehearsed discourse, evasive maneuvers, flashes of anger and a sharp wit, peppered with phrases like "my goodness" and "gee." The blend of caution and confidence is vintage Rumsfeld, says Caspar Weinberger, former defense secretary and an associate of his from past Republican administrations. "He's not trying to put a gloss on anything," Weinberger said. Yet, humor keeps poking through. "He's perfectly willing to laugh at himself," Weinberger said, "and everybody else." One minute Rumsfeld is musing about how Osama bin Laden might slip away. The next, he is holding forth about how a man might decide to give up terrorism. "It's when a person gets up in the morning and says it's not worth it. 'I'm either dead or I'm wounded or there is no place to go or I don't have food, and I can't get anyone on the telephone, and I don't know what to do next.'" Asked about war priorities, he did the unusual in a capital that treats many priorities as equal so as not to offend anyone. He listed them in order. No. 1 was tracking down the Taliban and al-Qaida leadership. Humanitarian aid came in at No. 4. In between, destroying the enemy's military capability and helping Afghans set up a stable society. Perhaps most noteworthy is his capacity for understatement. On a day when Taliban fighters were fleeing to safety, he supposed they might be having "some communication difficulties." What are U.S. commandos doing? "Things that are helpful to our side and unhelpful to the other side." Rumsfeld bristles when presented with disturbing if vague reports of atrocities allegedly committed by America's advancing Afghan allies. Leaks to the press make him angry, too. So does the idea that the U.S. military should restrain itself to avoid arousing more Islamic fundamentalists. "Utter nonsense," he said. "It's kind of like feeding an alligator, hoping it eats you last." "He has a certain dismissive quality," said Loren Thompson, chief executive officer of the Lexington Institute, a public policy research group in Virginia. "Washington has a go-along-to-get-along culture where you never say anything negative about other people," Thompson said. "Rumsfeld kind of goes right up to the edge." That manner "could have really done him in" before the war. At age 69 and in his second stint as defense secretary after 23 years in private business, Rumsfeld is thought to have no higher ambition in government. That has made him a free spirit, or at least not a man to worry much about upsetting people. "It's easy for him to wing it," Thompson said. "He's constantly restraining himself from saying funny things that will get him in trouble." If Rumsfeld has a grand strategic vision for the war, it is hard to discern in policy emanating almost seamlessly from a Bush team made up of several strong-willed advisers. "I can't tell how much of this strategy is Rumsfeld," said Cirincione, from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "This is this is by no means Rumsfeld's war," or an effort bearing the stamp of any one Cabinet member, he said. In 1999, some said the campaign against Yugoslavia was Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's war. As the civilian Pentagon chief, Rumsfeld provides political oversight to military decisions. He also has taken the lead in coaxing Afghanistan's neighbors to cooperate with U.S. military needs. His prime mission before Sept. 11 was to reorganize the military and tighten spending, an effort that includes closing bases dear to members of Congress. Pentagon-watchers said he wasted much good will and prompted inside complaints about his use of outside consultants to examine the budget. The reorganization still awaits him. Said Cirincione: "That's where we'll see if Rumsfeld is up for the job." ap.tbo.com tom watson tosiwmee

To: greenspirit who wrote (203686)	11/17/2001 7:57:39 PM
From: Jumper	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 769670

>>Others admiringly paint Rumsfeld as a hero<< Some hero...along w/ Dick they failed in IRAQ

To: greenspirit who wrote (203686)	11/17/2001 9:51:08 PM
From: Walkingshadow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

LOL !! Native American Heritage Month at the Pentagon !! Does NASA realize their Mars spacecraft has made a wrong turn and landed at the Pentagon with a boatload of aliens?? I for one think that Rumsfeld is doing a great job, despite such BS. Comparisons between the last administration's ways and the present have much less to do with the identity of the participants, much more to do with the nature of the times. Everything changed on 9/11/01. With all due respect to our current president, I suspect nearly every American president ever elected would have acted more or less how Bush has, albeit with probably trivial differences in rhetoric and style. The course of action was exceedingly clear IMHO, as was the strenth and direction of the will of the populace. Other courses of action would have been tantamount to political suicide, and I think nearly anybody who has been astute enough to get elected president would be astute enough to realize this. I don't want to get into any kind of discussion about Bush vs. Clinton or anybody else for that matter, because I think it is something of a red herring. My only point is I don't think you can reasonably compare those times with these. One thing that was very hard for me to understand: why in God's name would Gen. Tommy Franks ever call a lawyer for advice ???? .....jes' wonderin'....... Walkingshadow

To: greenspirit who wrote (203686)	11/18/2001 2:25:33 AM
From: KLP	Respond to of 769670

This article is well worth copying and putting into one's own email .....just excellent....Thanks, Michael... Just two of the paragraphs...... >>>>>>>>>>>>How could this happen? For his first half-year as defense secretary, Rumsfeld and his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, were the only two presidentially appointed officials in the Pentagon. The Senate failed to approve other deputies until July, meaning that day-to-day policy through the summer lay in the hands of Clinton holdovers, many of whom had burrowed into the permanent bureaucracy and have sniped at President Bush's appointees since day one. Rumsfeld relied on some dedicated, forward-looking cadres in the building, led by Andy Marshall of the Office of Net Assessment, and outside Reaganite experts such as Richard Perle and William Schneider (now heading official advisory groups) much to the resentment of the bureaucratic machinery. It took a full six months for Rumsfeld's team to come together: Douglas Feith as undersecretary for policy, and a policy shop of assistant secretaries, including J.D. Crouch and Peter Rodman. Not all appointees qualify for membership on the fabled pro-defense Blue Team, but Blue Teamers tell Insight that most of them do. "Don Rumsfeld," Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) tells Insight, "has assembled a first-rate team. Both his intellect and his candor are underappreciated. I'm very thankful that he was willing to take this job a second time around."<<<<<<<<<<<<