Tiassa
03-31-05, 12:12 AM
Source: Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/)
Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11309-2005Mar29.html
Title: "Rumsfeld And the Generals"
Date: March 30, 2005
David Ignatius writes in the Washington Post about a story that may prove a quiet drama of subtle interest:
Sometime this summer President Bush will pick a new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to lead a U.S. military that has been battered by the war in Iraq. When you ask military officers who should get the job, the first thing many say is that the military needs someone who can stand up to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ....
.... To appreciate the difficulty of the job, think about the body language when Rumsfeld holds a news conference with the current chairman, Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers. Rumsfeld is feisty, irreverent, outspoken; Myers is decorous, upright, respectful. Perhaps that's the way it should be, but some in the military argue that Myers has taken deference too far. His friends counter that working for Rumsfeld isn't easy and that Myers has tried, quietly and behind the scenes, to challenge the secretary when he was over the line.
Iraq has been a delicate dilemma for Myers--he needs to support the president's policy publicly while also challenging the civilians privately. Critics think Myers sometimes erred in sounding too dutifully supportive, as in comments he made during an April 2004 visit to Iraq. The insurgency had exploded so violently then that there was contingency planning to evacuate the Green Zone. But Myers blandly called the intense fighting "a symptom of the success that we're having here in Iraq," according to a forthcoming history of the war by The Post's Thomas E. Ricks.
Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11309-2005Mar29.html)
Ignatius names Marine General Peter Pace, current vice-chairman, as the man some observers say Rumsfeld has decided to recommend. To his support are apparently unique abilities to interface political and military affairs, though his detractors claim he's already sold to Rumsfeld. Another Marine, General James Jones, is also mentioned. Currently the commander of NATO, Ignatius describes him as "smart and sophisticated, with the polish of a corporate CEO". To his credit is that he is in demand: he allegedly refused consideration for the JCS chair last time around, and also made the short list for director of national intelligence. There are concerns, though, about how well he would get along with the Secretary and the President: "Jones wouldn't be pushed around by anyone, but observers wonder whether he would have the right chemistry with Rumsfeld and Bush". And then there's General John Abizaid, of the U.S. Army, commander of Centcom. Considered the strongest strategic thinker in the Army, he apparently refused the chance to be Army chief of staff in order to stay in the field. And he's apparently effective at challenging Rumsfeld on some issues.
Of course, what is this war in Iraq without the peripheral Vietnam reference? Ignatius recalls former chairman General Hugh Schelton, who told his staff to read McMaster's Dereliction of Duty, which deals with the failure of the Joint Chiefs to oppose Defense Secretary McNamara during the Vietnam conflict.
As the Iraqi assembly is wracked by birth pangs (http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-03-30-voa24.cfm), it's not quite fair to ask, "Are we there yet?"
Keep your eye on this one. It will be a very important appointment.
____________________
Notes:
Ignatius, David. "Rumsfeld And The Generals". Washington Post. March 30, 2005; page A15. See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11309-2005Mar29.html
See Also:
Bobb, Scott. "Iraqis React with Disappointment to Delay in Forming Iraqi Government". Voice of America. March 30, 2005. See http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-03-30-voa24.cfm
Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11309-2005Mar29.html
Title: "Rumsfeld And the Generals"
Date: March 30, 2005
David Ignatius writes in the Washington Post about a story that may prove a quiet drama of subtle interest:
Sometime this summer President Bush will pick a new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to lead a U.S. military that has been battered by the war in Iraq. When you ask military officers who should get the job, the first thing many say is that the military needs someone who can stand up to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ....
.... To appreciate the difficulty of the job, think about the body language when Rumsfeld holds a news conference with the current chairman, Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers. Rumsfeld is feisty, irreverent, outspoken; Myers is decorous, upright, respectful. Perhaps that's the way it should be, but some in the military argue that Myers has taken deference too far. His friends counter that working for Rumsfeld isn't easy and that Myers has tried, quietly and behind the scenes, to challenge the secretary when he was over the line.
Iraq has been a delicate dilemma for Myers--he needs to support the president's policy publicly while also challenging the civilians privately. Critics think Myers sometimes erred in sounding too dutifully supportive, as in comments he made during an April 2004 visit to Iraq. The insurgency had exploded so violently then that there was contingency planning to evacuate the Green Zone. But Myers blandly called the intense fighting "a symptom of the success that we're having here in Iraq," according to a forthcoming history of the war by The Post's Thomas E. Ricks.
Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11309-2005Mar29.html)
Ignatius names Marine General Peter Pace, current vice-chairman, as the man some observers say Rumsfeld has decided to recommend. To his support are apparently unique abilities to interface political and military affairs, though his detractors claim he's already sold to Rumsfeld. Another Marine, General James Jones, is also mentioned. Currently the commander of NATO, Ignatius describes him as "smart and sophisticated, with the polish of a corporate CEO". To his credit is that he is in demand: he allegedly refused consideration for the JCS chair last time around, and also made the short list for director of national intelligence. There are concerns, though, about how well he would get along with the Secretary and the President: "Jones wouldn't be pushed around by anyone, but observers wonder whether he would have the right chemistry with Rumsfeld and Bush". And then there's General John Abizaid, of the U.S. Army, commander of Centcom. Considered the strongest strategic thinker in the Army, he apparently refused the chance to be Army chief of staff in order to stay in the field. And he's apparently effective at challenging Rumsfeld on some issues.
Of course, what is this war in Iraq without the peripheral Vietnam reference? Ignatius recalls former chairman General Hugh Schelton, who told his staff to read McMaster's Dereliction of Duty, which deals with the failure of the Joint Chiefs to oppose Defense Secretary McNamara during the Vietnam conflict.
As the Iraqi assembly is wracked by birth pangs (http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-03-30-voa24.cfm), it's not quite fair to ask, "Are we there yet?"
Keep your eye on this one. It will be a very important appointment.
____________________
Notes:
Ignatius, David. "Rumsfeld And The Generals". Washington Post. March 30, 2005; page A15. See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11309-2005Mar29.html
See Also:
Bobb, Scott. "Iraqis React with Disappointment to Delay in Forming Iraqi Government". Voice of America. March 30, 2005. See http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-03-30-voa24.cfm