[CTRL] Washington's Warlord (Guardian)

[Sean McBride]

Title: Guardian | Washington's warlord

-Caveat Lector- In a way, Mr Rumsfeld misled himself. His shadowy Office of Special Plans bypassed the CIA and the Pentagon's own Defence Intelligence Agency in peddling sexed-up or plain inaccurate WMD "intelligence" that boosted the neo-con cause. He and deputies Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith, ignoring wiser heads, gave far too much credence to the claims of self-interested Iraqi exiles, some of whom it has since installed in power. Allegations of crony capitalism continue to swirl around the awarding of postwar contracts. http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4769534-103550,00.html   Donald Rumsfeld Washington's warlord Leader Wednesday October 8, 2003 The Guardian Signs abound that Donald Rumsfeld's star is waning. One year ago, the abrasive US defence secretary was a formidable political force. Buoyed by the overthrow of the Taliban, masterminding the military build-up against Iraq and regularly outflanking the state department's Colin Powell in Washington power games, the Pentagon chief dominated policy-making to a remarkable degree. His brusque manner and sharp suits made him a media celebrity and an unlikely pin-up. Mr Rumsfeld had become the unchallenged warlord of George Bush's "war on terror". What a difference a year makes, as Geoff Hoon might say. Mr Bush's decision, announced this week, to take overall executive control of political, counter-terrorism and reconstruction policy in Iraq and Afghanistan out of the Pentagon's hands amounts to a vote of no confidence in Mr Rumsfeld. Officials insist that is not the case. But that is how it will certainly be seen as power shifts to a newly expanded national security council led by Mr Bush's close confidant, Condoleezza Rice. This is damage control at it most dramatic, for never before has the NSC been afforded an overt operational role. And yet the reasons for it are plain enough. US soldiers are dying; the financial cost grows ruinous, even for America's deep pockets. Other countries are still mostly refusing to help out; there is diplomatic stalemate at the UN. Afghanistan may be turning sour, too. And all this amid an alarming deterioration in overall Middle East security. With the war now widely discredited, Iraq is fast becoming a millstone around Mr Bush's neck. All the polls show it. The White House fears it. For much of this, Mr Rumsfeld bears frontline responsibility. When once he took the credit, now he increasingly takes the blame. This is only fair. Mr Rumsfeld's Iraq campaign plan was fatally flawed from the start. He underestimated the number of troops required and was unable to halt Iraq's descent into post-Saddam, post-sanctions chaos. His appointment of Jay Garner as Iraq's overseer was a disaster, symptomatic of a deeper, astonishing failure to grasp the sheer scale of the reconstruction challenge. In a way, Mr Rumsfeld misled himself. His shadowy Office of Special Plans bypassed the CIA and the Pentagon's own Defence Intelligence Agency in peddling sexed-up or plain inaccurate WMD "intelligence" that boosted the neo-con cause. He and deputies Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith, ignoring wiser heads, gave far too much credence to the claims of self-interested Iraqi exiles, some of whom it has since installed in power. Allegations of crony capitalism continue to swirl around the awarding of postwar contracts. Meanwhile, ordinary Iraqis (and America's poor bloody infantry) are struggling to overcome a series of blunders by Gen Garner's successor, Paul Bremer, another Rumsfeld appointee. These range from the disbanding of Iraq's army to reluctance to countenance a swift return to self-governance. Mr Rumsfeld blames diehard Ba'athists, al-Qaida terrorists, Syria, Iran, the French, the UN, anybody, for Iraq's current woes. But if he wants to nail one of the main culprits, he need only look in the mirror. The Pentagon has long been a notoriously badly run agency. It cannot even lock people up in Guantanamo Bay without making a mess of it. It wastes taxpayers' dollars on an epic scale. It buys pork-barrel weapons systems nobody needs; it often simply cannot account for its spending; it hands out jobs-for-the-boys to people like Iran-Contra's John Poindexter. Now it emerges that it has been blithely selling surplus biological weapons equipment on the internet. Why anybody ever imagined that the Pentagon, of all organisations, was competent to manage Iraq is a great mystery of our time. Why Mr Rumsfeld is still US defence secretary is an even bigger one. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003 www.ctrl.org DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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