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| NYT Leaker: Rumsfeld Memo on Iraq Proposed ‘Major’ Change |
| 2006-12-03 |
| WASHINGTON, Dec. 2 — Two days before he resigned as defense secretary, Donald H. Rumsfeld submitted a classified memo to the White House that acknowledged that the Bush administration’s strategy in Iraq was not working and called for a major course correction. “In my view it is time for a major adjustment,” wrote Mr. Rumsfeld, who has been a symbol of a dogged stay-the-course policy. “Clearly, what U.S. forces are currently doing in Iraq is not working well enough or fast enough.” Nor did Mr. Rumsfeld seem confident that the administration would readily develop an effective alternative. To limit the political fallout from shifting course, he suggested the administration consider a campaign to lower public expectations. “Announce that whatever new approach the U.S. decides on, the U.S. is doing so on a trial basis,” he wrote. “This will give us the ability to readjust and move to another course, if necessary, and therefore not ‘lose.’ ” “Recast the U.S. military mission and the U.S. goals (how we talk about them) — go minimalist,” he added. The memo suggests frustration with the pace of turning over responsibility to the Iraqi authorities; in fact, the memo calls for examination of ideas that roughly parallel troop withdrawal proposals presented by some of the White House’s sharpest Democratic critics. (Text of the Memo) |
| Posted by:.com |
| #2 See MOVIE > AFRICAN AMER SCHOOL PRINCIPAL WID BASEBALL BAT > NYC School students cannot learn from a "learning environment" where adult "professional/certified" faculty DOES NOT = CAN NOT = WILL NOT CONTROL. PRINCIPAL > CONTROL/SECURE SCHOOL FIRST, THEN TEACHERS CAN TEACH WID OUT GETTING SHOT AT OR BEATEN UP BY ABUSIVE STUDENTS ANDOR OTHER ADULTS. Ditto for IRAQ. Will say again that the GOP would prob had won 2006 iff the US Voter = US Parent = Mainstream America had seen evidence of DEMOCRATIC REGIME CHANGE/REVOL TAKING PLACE in IRAN, etc. or in altern MOUD + MULLAHS changing their "attitudes" for the better. AMERS LIKE THEIR WARS QUICK + DECISIVE + PROACTIVE, THEY WANT MOUD + RADICAL MULLAHS, etc. KILLED, OUSTED, OR PACIFIED - they don't wanna hear "US Boyz fighting in IRAQ, AND ONLY IRAQ, FOREVER AND EVER, FOR DECADE AFTER DECADE". Iff America needs to INVADE, THEN INVADE; iff we need to ARM LOCAL RESISTANCE ala CONTRAS-ANTI-SOVIET AFGHANS, THEN ARM 'EM; NEED DO BOTH, THEN DO BOTH. I do NOT agree at all that America need not NATION-BUILD > "winning hearts and minds" does include the indirect promo of democracy by helping mainstream Iraqis live a better quality-of-life than under Saddam or any other post = potens future Dictator. MACARTHUR + PATTON KNEW THE VALUE OF LETTING ALL SIDES, ALLIES + ENEMY + NEUTRALS, KNOW WHOM WAS IN CHARGE OF THE COUNTRY, BY MILITARY FORCE IFF NEED BE. *"BLACK HAWK INDIAN WAR" MILITIA VETERAN POTUS ABE LINCOLN [paraphrased]> "Iff General MCCLELLAN is NOT using his [massive/well-equipped] Army of the Potomac [to attack South/Southern armies], tell him I'd like to use it for awhile [if Mac won't]", or words to that effect. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2006-12-03 02:38 |
| #1 Clinton's Dayton Accords were a disaster. Honor is an alien concept to Muslims. |
| Posted by: Sneaze Shaiting3550 2006-12-03 01:08 |