Rumsfeld

[LouiseVargas]

George, you are eating sour grapes.

I'm reading a book by Bob Woodward "State of Denial - Bush At War, Part III." It is a fascinating book.

The first paragraph begins:

In the fall of 1997, former President George H. W. Bush, then age 74 and five years out of the White House, phoned one of his closest friends, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the longtime Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States.

"Bandar," Bush said, "W. would like to talk to you if you have the time. Can you come by and talk to him?" His eldest son and namesake, George W. Bush, who had been governor of Texas for nearly three years, was consulting a handful of people about an important decision and wanted to have a private talk.

Bandar's life was built around such private talks. He didn't ask why, though there was ample media speculation that W. was thinking of running for president. Bandar, 49, had been the Saudi ambassador for 15 years, and had an extraordinary position in Washington. His intensity and networking were probably matched only by former President Bush 41.  

(snip)

Bandar planned his 1997 visit with the Texas governor around a trip to a home football game of his beloved Dallas Cowboys. He wanted the meeting to be very discreet and ordered his private plane to land in Austin. When they landed, Bandar's chief of staff came running to say the governor was already there outside the plane. Bandar walked down the aisle to go outside.

"Hi, how are you?" greeted GW standing in the door before Bandar could even get off the plane. He was eager to talk.

"Here?" inquired Bandar, expecting they would go to the governor's mansion or office.

"Yes, I prefer it here."

(snip)

"I'm thinking of running for president," said Bush, then 52.

(snip)

Bush told Bandar he had clear ideas of what needed to be done with national domestic policy. But he added, "I don't have the foggiest idea about what I think about international foreign policy. My dad told me before I make up my mind, go and talk to Bandar. One, he is our friend. "Our" means America, not just the Bush family. Number two, he knows everyone in the world who counts. And number three, he will give you his view on what he sees happening in the world. Maybe he can set up meetings for you with people around the world."

"Governor," Bandar said, "Number one I am humbled you asked me this question." It was a tall order. "Number two" Bandar continued, "are you sure you want to do this?"  
**************
The book goes into great detail on how everyone consulted about W.'s desire to run for president considered this a bad move as W. knew nothing about foreign policy, despite all the experts called in to give him lessons. They said he just could not be "fitted" into a presidential suit.

And further into the book, Woodward states that Bush 41 did not dare to try to take Bagdad out in the first gulf war. Bush said he had a mission to get Iraq out of Kuwait and he did not want to break international law by occupying Bagdad since that was not his stated mission. He got Saddam out of Kuwait and went home.
********************

Get over it, George McDowell, the people have voted and there was no corruption in the voting system this time.

[Carnut]

Sorry, Louise, Woodward ain't on my list of 'believeable' people.

[LouiseVargas]

That's ok with me, George, if Woodward is not on your list of 'believeable' people.

How about your addressing the fact that the voters spoke.

[Carnut]

That's ok with me, George, if Woodward is not on your list of 'believeable' people.

How about your addressing the fact that the voters spoke.

Other than electing a few more Dems, what do you really think the 'voters' where really voting for?

I suspicion that a majority of voters are 'moderates' who have no choice but to vote back and forth between two polarized parties with totally opposite points of view.

[LouiseVargas]

Rumsfeld's Reflections

Paraphrased:

On March 20, 2001, after a few months on the job as Secretary of Defense, Rumsfeld stood at his desk at night, overwhelmed, trying to define the task before him. "After two months on the job, it is clear that the Defense establishment is tangled in its anchor chain." The military's personnel policies were designed to manage a conscript force of single men. Those policies had not been updated to accommodate a volunteer force with families.

Distrust between Congress and the Defense Department was so great that from a practical standpoint, the DOD no longer had the authority to conduct the business of the Department. "The maze of constraints on the Department force it to operate in a manner that is so slow, so ponderous and so inefficient that whatever it ultimately does will inevitably be a decade or so late." Without fixing and changing the relationship with Congress, Rumsfeld concluded that transformation of our armed forces was not possible.

"The task was so hard and would take so long, that our job, therefore, is to work together to sharpen the sword that the next president will wield." We'll have to do for the next president.

[justinsmama]

Good riddance to Rumsfeld.

[LouiseVargas]

What I am trying to say regarding Rumsfeld is he knew from the start when he assumed the office of Secretary of Defense, that the DOD was so bogged down in bureaucracy that they couldn't conduct business as usual. Also, that distrust between Congress and the DOD prevented speedy and efficient results. That it would take ten years for the DOD to recover and that whatever he did would be to sharpen the sword for the NEXT president.

[pdh3]

Good riddance to Rumsfeld.

ditto