Stopping the spread of North Korea's nuclear capabilities will require far greater cohesiveness than the international community has shown, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, pictured September 2006, warned.(AFP/Pool/File/Haraz N. Ghanbari)
Posted on 10/18/2006 12:32:47 PM PDT by ICE-FLYER
Edited on 10/18/2006 12:34:02 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
It was very good to be able to be here at a senior leadership school and to hear Secretary Rumsfeld speak.
As is typical for him he addresses the crowd in a very comfortable yet deliberate manner. As you would expect he made clear his support of us in the military by him, the President and the nation.
What is noticeable is his command of the facts and how he presents them. He is actually better at answering your questions than any politician I have heard from. Since the press was there I am sure he was careful as they are often taking him out of context...but...he did make it a point to show the press there just how many officers (over 150) were at this formal school (a year long school at that) and of how they represent 73or more nations. It seems to be lost on them just how much support we have from them not only on the war on terror but on how we respect and learn from them a whole lot more than people know.
After his 20 minutes or so of comments he took questions. He was as direct as he could be in answering them and showed obvious trust in the senior leadership of the military by the way he answered them.
You can not help but come away positive and upbeat to know that such a man is at the top of the military under a President who knows what the military is for and how well it does what its mission is...whatever that may be.
After Q & A he walked up one aisle and shook many hands...including mine. While I have always liked the man from what I have seen on television and from the extensive reading we have to do at this master’s level course it was great to meet him and see a better total picture of a single speech than just the spun sound bites you get from his obvious critics in the media.
Uhhh.....was his name spelled that way in the program? If so, you have been had.
He just keeps going like the energizer bunny. God bless him.
Um, that isn't how his name is spelled.
Thanks for telling us about this. I'm a big Rummy fan. I guess he's not the arrogant oaf the media makes him out to be :)
In a sentence: The effect of rum's felt for most of the evening, if you drink enough.
Stopping the spread of North Korea's nuclear capabilities will require far greater cohesiveness than the international community has shown, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, pictured September 2006, warned.(AFP/Pool/File/Haraz N. Ghanbari)
I too got to attend a Rumsfeld speech on 19 September. He was impressive. Two lines stood out:
1. He said that,"I for one don't wake up in morning thinking America is what's wrong with the world."
2. In a message to the cut and run crowd, he quoted Winston Churchill. After Dunkirk, the Brit parliament was celebrating the "miracle" of Dunkirk and Churchill reminded them: "Wars are not won by evacuations."
Thanks....Yes, that was it!!
Another plug for FReepers as news correspondents!
'When I warned the French that Britain would fight on alone whatever they did, their generals told their Prime Minister and his divided Cabinet, "In three weeks England will have her neck wrung like a chicken."
Some chicken; some neck.'
Winston Churchill
Why would terrorists want us to pull out of Iraq?
Hasn't the coalition presence there been a great recruitment tool for terrorists?
/s
Rummy '08 bump!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.