ONLY NIXON CAN GO TO CHINA:

Rumsfeld's Style, Goals Strain Ties In Pentagon: 'Transformation' Effort Spawns Issues of Control (Vernon Loeb and Thomas E. Ricks, October 16, 2002, Washington Post)

early two dozen current and former top officers and civilian officials said in interviews that there is a huge discrepancy between the outside perception of Rumsfeld -- the crisp, no-nonsense defense secretary who became a media star through his briefings on the Afghan war--and the way he is seen inside the Pentagon. Many senior officers on the Joint Staff and in all branches of the military describe Rumsfeld as frequently abusive and indecisive, trusting only a tiny circle of close advisers, seemingly eager to slap down officers with decades of distinguished service. The unhappiness is so pervasive that all three service secretaries are said to be deeply frustrated by a lack of autonomy and contemplating leaving by the end of the year. [...]

His disputes with parts of the top brass involve style, the conduct of military operations in Afghanistan and elsewhere, and sharply different views about how and whether to "transform" today's armed forces. But what the fights boil down to is civilian control of a defense establishment that Rumsfeld is said to believe had become too independent and risk-averse during eight years under President Bill Clinton.

Issue? If any of these guys have an issue with civilian control they're in the wrong country's military. These are the kinds of reforms that only a bureaucratic in-fighter like Mr. Rumsfeld can even hope to accomplish and only a conservative Republican administration can even dare to attempt. The great failure of Bill Clinton's presidency was not his personal criminality but his failure to take on the Left's sacred cows, such as Social Security,
in like manner. Posted by Orrin Judd at October 16, 2002 12:29 PM