[iwar] [fc:Rumsfeld.Viewing.the.world.and.`war'.differently]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2001-10-22 07:41:35
Next message: Fred Cohen: "[iwar] [fc:US.'Lacks.Credible.Political.Agenda']"
Previous message: Fred Cohen: "[iwar] [fc:Al.Qaeda's.Tracks.Deepen.In.Europe]"
Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ] [ attachment ]
Message-Id: <200110221441.f9MEfZS04935@red.all.net>
To: iwar@onelist.com (Information Warfare Mailing List)
Organization: I'm not allowed to say
From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net>
Mailing-List: list iwar@yahoogroups.com; contact iwar-owner@yahoogroups.com
Precedence: bulk
Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2001 07:41:35 -0700 (PDT)
Reply-To: iwar@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [iwar] [fc:Rumsfeld.Viewing.the.world.and.`war'.differently]
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Chicago Tribune
October 19, 2001
Rumblings From Rumsfeld
Viewing the world and `war' differently
By Georgie Anne Geyer, Universal Press Syndicate
WASHINGTON -- It is rare, even in the lives of journalists who have covered
many wars, for someone to have the chance to hear firsthand a new military
view of America's place being explored by a leader in times of war. Yet
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld seemed to be doing just that in an
interview here.
Looking not so much tired as thinner and even more resolute, the secretary
talked about not what the Bush administration had done, but how and why. In
his words we are seeing perhaps the beginnings of a new U.S. outlook toward
the world and toward war.
First, he said, in today's world, you have to get it right from the start,
because in a world of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, you can't
make a mistake and try again.
"It's an amazing process," he said thoughtfully during this interview in his
elegant Pentagon office overlooking the Potomac. For the first time
publicly, he was reflecting on the past five weeks that have separated
America from its past. "There's always so much you need to do that's
immediate: your in-box, your phone ringing . . .
"And then there are the other things, like how do you get the case made and
set in the beginning so you don't wind up in a cauldron down the line? How
do you get [policy] set in the institution? These are very important and
require a lot of thought. Assuming the worst, you have to transport yourself
three months off when you might be watching TV and see a chemical or
biological threat not to hundreds, but to thousands of people. What can you
do to see it coming and be prepared to cope with it?
"So while you're dealing with the immediate, you have to force yourself to
deal with all of those things." He smiled. "One of Rumsfeld's rules is, `You
don't have to fall into the potholes that others fell into.' You can't start
out with a flawed policy.
"So we had to structure it at the outset as a floating coalition with very
broad tolerance for what you do or don't do, and how much you want to
publicize what countries do. Some countries want to help, but don't want it
known."
He delineated coherently and comprehensively how one has to think of
"defense" today. In essence, defense in a world of terrorist cells in 60
countries and disintegrating states does not mean defending yourself in any
classic defensive manner. It requires an aggressive, but extremely
well-planned offensive as well as preventive outreach.
"I remember being in Beirut when they blew up the Marines in the 1980s," he
said, leaning back in his chair. "First we put up blockades. They threw
bombs over them. Finally, we hung a big wire mesh over the American embassy
to protect it--and that didn't work, either. With self-defense today, you
have to take the fight to them. Some people think this is something you can
start or stop, but the fact is that you don't have a large margin for error
when you're talking about nuclear weapons. I don't think you have a choice."
He paused. "But the image is hard for people," he admitted.
The reality was even harder for him on Sept. 11. "I had been at a breakfast
here with a bunch of congressmen," he recalled, "and we were talking about
the Social Security `lockbox' and the need for additional defense money for
asymmetric warfare."
He noted to the group how, since he had chaired the presidential missile
defense commission three years ago, India and Pakistan had tested nuclear
weapons and North Korea had sent off advanced missiles toward Japan. "I said
that morning, `As sure as we sit here, there'll be another.' Then I walked
in here and someone said, `Turn on the TV ...' "
Today, he says of the campaign that he directs as head of the most powerful
military the world has ever known, "I think it's working. The pressure is
being applied through the financial. A pile of people have been arrested.
Out of all of the exchange of information has come more information--and
more and more arrests. Anything we can do raises the costs and reduces the
recruits [for the terrorists].
"But it isn't very visible. We're watching Afghanistan and seeing scraps
from the ground. Some groups are not being as active for the Taliban and
some want to come over. Maybe that's not all permanent, no question. But the
air war, which in a classic sense has had a limited effect, proportionally
has not been trivial.
"At what stage are we? Oh, we're only in the beginning. . . . You could put
a bubble around Afghanistan, and the networks would still be there. In fact,
the extent to which it gets personalized is probably misleading, because the
problem of weapons of mass destruction is too immediate and too urgent, and
there are too many countries involved in harboring terrorists and tolerating
them."
Rumsfeld reiterated that this was a war not against Islam, but against
terrorism. He spoke of the need, militarily, to "think globally." The
morning of our interview, news came out regarding the idea of a global
military command that would work across regions. And he spoke feelingly of
what a terrible shock the events of Sept. 11 were because of our historical
experience of "oceans to both sides and friends in Mexico and Canada."
One could almost hear the intellectual and moral gears of rational change
shifting in this remarkable man as, drawing on his experience and lifelong
study, he explained how he sees America today in a different relationship to
the rest of the world.
It's odd. When he was chosen for this position, many thought he was a man of
the past. Instead, this leader who is facing the greatest U.S. conflict
since World War II is turning out to be a man of the future.
Georgie Anne Geyer is a syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C.

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Get your FREE VeriSign guide to security solutions for your web site: encrypting transactions, securing intranets, and more!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/UnN2wB/m5_CAA/yigFAA/kgFolB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

------------------
http://all.net/ 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Next message: Fred Cohen: "[iwar] [fc:US.'Lacks.Credible.Political.Agenda']"
Previous message: Fred Cohen: "[iwar] [fc:Al.Qaeda's.Tracks.Deepen.In.Europe]"
Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ] [ attachment ]
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : 2001-12-31 20:59:56 PST