This is a failure of the Bush Administration. If he is not in charge of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan - then who the heck is in charge? The problem is not that no ONE is in charge (that would be President Bush) but that no one DEPARTMENT is in charge - Defense or State? Can’t have both in charge... Rumsfeld did not want to be in charge - he wanted to leave quickly. State Department wanted control but not the responsibility.
“Jointness” does not work between a ‘WAR’ Department and a ‘TALK’ Department. Bush has to pick ONE.
dvwjr
“Can’t have both in charge.’
Nor, in Afghanistan, can we fight a war and drugs and a war on terror at the same time. The former undermines the latter but both seem to have equal sway.
Thing is, if the WOD succeeds, a third of the Afghan economy is wiped out making the WOT that much harder to pursue.
Gates is spending all of his time being a politician and answering to the check writers (congress). He is a CEO of a $450 BILLION dollar company now. Petreaus is leading one war effort in Iraq and STILL having to defend the war to congress.
“Jointness” does not work between a ‘WAR’ Department and a ‘TALK’ Department
I don’t think it is true that Rumsfeld did not want to be in charge. I think the exact opposite is true, actually. He was appointed specifically to clean up the mess and ran into the typical bureaucratic, lifer mentality that is DC.
Remember, he was there before we were at war. And he came back to government from private industry. He was considered perfect for the role because he had prior government experience (including the role of Sec. of Defense) with the hope of offering solutions from the real world. I think he made more progress than we know, but due to the lack of understanding among media types it will take awhile to sort out the long-term benefits of any solutions that came about as a result of his service.
The State Department has a completely different responsibility, ultimately, but I do agree, the appointment of an additional layer seems odd. The only rationale might be the anticipated longevity of the war on terror, but this still seems like it should fit somewhere w/in the Defense Dept.
Stephen Hadley has started to try and make his case publicly, but I don’t think he has made his point yet.