Wednesday, October 22, 2003
After yesterday's bleak news, causing a Solomonia spiral of worry and angst, comes some perhaps heartening news - a leaked memo from Don Rumsfeld to his top people, pointed to by Roger Simon who links to this Virginia Postrel take.
This is the Donald Rumsfeld we know and love. This is the curmudgeonly Rumsfeld who doesn't suffer fools easily, poking and prodding his underlings' brains behind the scenes, forcing them to keep thinking in innovative ways. This leak makes me feel better. We begin to see where the idea for that "Terrorism Futures Market" from a couple months back came from. Ideas! We need ideas. That's what Americans do. We need people like this at the wheel.
USATODAY.com - Defense memo: A grim outlook
Pentagon spokesman Lawrence DiRita declined to comment specifically on the memo, but he said Rumsfeld's style is to "ask penetrating questions" to provoke candid discussion. "He's trying to keep a sense of urgency alive."
Among Rumsfeld's observations in the two-page memo:
• The United States is "just getting started" in fighting the Iraq-based terror group Ansar Al-Islam.
• The war is hugely expensive. "The cost-benefit ratio is against us! Our cost is billions against the terrorists' cost of millions."
• Postwar stabilization efforts are very difficult. "It is pretty clear the coalition can win in Afghanistan and Iraq in one way or another, but it will be a long, hard slog."
The memo was sent to Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz; Marine Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs; and Douglas Feith, undersecretary of Defense for policy.
Rumsfeld asks whether the Defense Department is moving fast enough to adapt to fighting terrorists and whether the United States should create a private foundation to entice radical Islamic schools to a "more moderate course." Rumsfeld says the schools, known as madrassas, may be churning out new terrorists faster than the United States can kill or capture them.
The memo is not a policy statement, but a tool for shaping internal discussion. It highlights a Rumsfeld trait that supporters say is one of his greatest strengths: a willingness to challenge subordinates to constantly reassess problems. The memo prods Rumsfeld's most senior advisers to think in new ways about the war on terrorism at a time when many are preoccupied with the 7-month-old war in Iraq...
Update: Lots of links at Instapundit.
READ THIS SOLOMON -
http://www.blackfive.net/main/2003/10/me_and_my_musli.html
and then read Oliver Kamm's recitation of what the Pakistan Times said about Mathir's speech and the reaction to it.
First he fisks that weasel Krugman and then he cites the Daily Times of Pakistan's reaction, and that is a must read.
http://oliverkamm.typepad.com/blog/2003/10/krugmans_pathol.html
That's good stuff, Mike. That first one is quite something.