Monday, December 06, 2004
“FOUR MORE YEARS”
Or Longer
The New York Times is reporting that Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld expects U.S. troops to leave Iraq within four years, depending on the country’s progress in reaching civil order. (“Rumsfeld Sees U.S. Troops Leaving Iraq Within 4 Years,” by Eric Schmitt.)
Secretary Rumsfeld, speaking with reporters in Kuwait, confirmed he “enthusiastically” accepted the president’s request that he remain at the Pentagon in his second term.
The Times article includes several additional items of interest, including a display of Secretary Rumsfeld, for all his purported decisiveness, passing the buck on weapons, intelligence, and troop levels, here:
Looking back over his first four-year term, Mr. Rumsfeld acknowledged that the two biggest mistakes or misjudgments that had been made -- though not necessarily by him -- were the failure to discover any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq (“that’s clearly a disappointment”) and a lack of intelligence that predicted “the degree of insurgency today.”
And here:
Mr. Rumsfeld remained defiant in the face of critics who say the United States failed to send enough troops to Iraq initially to handle postwar security and now, to combat the insurgents.
He said that the decision on troop levels was largely “out of my control,” since he was following the advice and requests of his regional commanders, first Gen. Tommy R. Franks and now, Gen. John P. Abizaid and Gen. George W. Casey Jr.
While that technically may be true, Mr. Rumsfeld approves all decisions on troop levels in Iraq, and is famous among his commanders and top civilian aides for demanding detailed explanations for troop increases and movements.
And then a quick slide down the memory hole:
“The extremists have decided that the Iraqi security forces are a danger to them,” Mr. Rumsfeld said. “Elsewise [sic], why would they be running around trying to kill so many of them?”
Mr. Rumsfeld said the insurgents cannot defeat American forces militarily. “All they can do is try to outlast,” he said.
Sounds awfully familiar.
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JAMES MARTIN CAPOZZOLA
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James Martin (Jim) Capozzola launched The Rittenhouse Review in April 2002, TRR: The Lighter Side of Rittenhouse, HorowitzWatch, and Smarter Andrew Sullivan in July 2002, and Bulldogs for Kerry-Edwards in October 2004. He is also a contributing member of President Boxer.
He received the 2002 Koufax Award for Best Post> for "Al Gore and the Alpha Girls" (published November 25, 2002). Capozzola's record in the Koufax Awards includes two additional nominations for 2002 (Best Blog and Best Writing), three nominations for 2003 (Best Blog, Best Series, and Best Writing), and two finalist nominations in 2004 (Best Blog and Best Writing).
Capozzola’s experience beyond the blogosphere includes a lengthy career in financial journalism, securities analysis, and investment research, and in freelance writing, editing, ghost-writing, and writing instruction.
He earned his bachelor's degree in political science from the University at Albany and a master's in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia.
Capozzola lives in Philadelphia with his bulldog, Mildred.
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