Rumsfeld's War on PBS

[Guest guest]

Rumsfeld's War on PBS

Tuesday, October 26, at 9pm, 90 minutes

 

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/press/2302.html

 

» Rumsfeld's War

Tuesday, October 26, at 9pm, 90 minutes

 

With the United States Army deployed in a dozen hotspots around the world--on

constant alert in Afghanistan and taking casualties almost every day in

Iraq--some current and former officers now say the army is on the verge of being

broken. The man responsible, according to those officers, is a secretary of

defense who came into the Pentagon determined to transform the shape of the

military.

 

In " Rumsfeld's War, " airing Tuesday, October 26, at 9 P.M. on PBS (check local

listings), FRONTLINE® and the Washington Post join forces for the first time to

investigate Donald Rumsfeld's contentious battle with the Pentagon bureaucracy

to assert civilian control of the military and remake the way America fights.

 

" The remarkable journalistic skills of five Washington Post reporters combined

with FRONTLINE's own original reporting and archive represents a rare

opportunity to tell the story of the war inside the Defense Department at this

critical time, " says producer Michael Kirk.

 

" Rumsfeld's War " traces Donald Rumsfeld's career from his time as an advisor to

President Nixon to his rise as the oft-seen and well-known face of the George W.

Bush administration during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. In interviews with

key administration officials, military leaders, and reporters from the

Washington Post, the documentary examines how a secretary of defense bent on

reform became a secretary of war accused of ignoring the advice of his generals.

 

" He came in determined to reassert civilian control over the Joint Staff and the

rest of the military and it was a pretty tough process, a lot of friction in

those first months, with Rumsfeld saying, 'No, I don't think you heard me

clearly. I'm the boss. I want it this way,' " reporter Thomas Ricks of the

Washington Post tells FRONTLINE.

 

In the early months of the Bush administration, Rumsfeld saw his biggest enemy

as the outdated Cold War thinking of the troops he commanded. " Donald Rumsfeld

wanted to build a smaller, nimbler, and more networked military that could

respond swiftly to threats anywhere in the world. He came into the Defense

Department where the forces were heavy and slow, took months to deploy and

worked best when used in massive numbers, " says Professor John Arquilla of the

Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.

 

Former Secretary of the Army Thomas White says that when Rumsfeld tried to push

for a reduction in the number of troops in the army, the secretary found himself

clashing with General Eric Shinseki, the army's respected Chief of Staff.

 

" There were very strongly held views, myself and General Shinseki and others in

the room, that this was not the right answer, " White says of one meeting with

Rumsfeld. " The secretary, he just got up and walked out, which was a signal to

all of us that he wasn't terribly happy with the results of the meeting. "

 

To the Pentagon generals, Rumsfeld's sharp elbows and strong views on the

military came across as insulting. But those who know him best say that

Rumsfeld's unorthodox style is hardly a surprise. Robert Ellsworth, longtime

friend, former ambassador to the UN and also former deputy to Rumsfeld, says

that as a wrestler in college, Rumsfeld learned to always stay on the move.

 

" He has a very sharp tongue as well as sharp elbows. And he knows how to use

salty language. And he didn't hold back even against these senior bureaucrats,

senior officers. He let them have it because he was in a hurry, " Ellsworth says.

 

By the eve of September 11, 2001, Rumsfeld's sharp tongue and tough attitude had

gotten him into plenty of fights and created a number of enemies.

 

" Inside the beltway, there are all these discussions about 'Well, who's going to

be the first cabinet secretary to leave this administration?' " defense analyst

Andrew Krepinevich tells FRONTLINE. " And the early betting line is it could be

Don Rumsfeld. And of course then 9/11 happens, and as the saying goes 'That

changes everything.' "

 

As the United States prepared to respond to the attacks of September 11,

Rumsfeld pushed a reluctant military to think unconventionally about going to

war in Afghanistan. Dissatisfied with the plan for a large-scale invasion that

he received from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Rumsfeld turned to the

Pentagon's Special Operations forces.

 

" He is willing to start military operations in Afghanistan before most of the

military thinks that we're ready to do so. And [a] small number of special

forces soldiers combined with CIA support for indigenous Afghan resistance

forces brings about spectacular results, " Krepinevich says.

 

When the president's attention turned towards Iraq, Rumsfeld pushed his war

planners to think outside the box. Emboldened by his success in Afghanistan, the

secretary once again pushed aside Pentagon critics and demanded an

unconventional war plan.

 

" Rumsfeld thinks you can re-invent [the] war plan, " the Washington Post's Bob

Woodward tells FRONTLINE, " And anything that smacks of the old way or something

that looks conventional to him, he asks questions about. Doesn't necessarily

oppose it, but will ask questions about it, and is looking to make this quicker,

with less force and with less casualties. "

 

Now, the secretary's critics allege that Rumsfeld's push for unconventional

thinking effectively marginalized advice about troop strength, post-war

planning, and the treatment of prisoners.

 

" I think to a degree, he's stubborn. Being stubborn, holding to your convictions

is good to a point, but when the evidence around you indicates your position is

not tenable, then you ought to start adapting to the situation, " says retired

USMC Lieutenant General Paul Van Riper.

 

That stubbornness, some officers say, led Rumsfeld to put the military in the

difficult position of fighting in simultaneous conflicts against an

unconventional enemy. With mounting casualties in Iraq and without a clear exit

strategy in either Iraq or Afghanistan, Rumsfeld's critics charge the secretary

has pushed too far. The danger, they say, is a military incapable of effectively

fighting the next major conflict.

 

Former CENTCOM Commander-in-Chief General Joseph Hoar (Ret.) tells FRONTLINE,

" Today we find over fifty percent of the United States Army, the regular army,

ten divisions, committed overseas. It's not sustainable. "

 

Rumsfeld, however, has stood firm in his assessment that U.S. fighting forces

are more than capable of handling these or future conflicts, recently telling

the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee that with over 2.5 million Americans

already enlisted, the military's problem is management of resources, not

recruitment.

 

 

 

" Rumsfeld's War " is a FRONTLINE co-production with the Washington Post and the

Kirk Documentary Group. The producer for FRONTLINE is Michael Kirk. The

co-producer for FRONTLINE is Jim Gilmore. Executives-in-charge for the

Washington Post are Bill Hamilton and Tina Gulland. Reporters for the Washington

Post are Dan Balz, Dana Priest, Tom Ricks, Bob Woodward, and Robin Wright.

 

FRONTLINE is produced by WGBH Boston and is broadcast nationwide on PBS.

 

Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers.

 

FRONTLINE is closed-captioned for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers.

 

FRONTLINE is a registered trademark of WGBH Educational Foundation.

 

The executive producer for FRONTLINE is David Fanning.

 

 

 

Press contacts:

Erin Martin Kane

Chris Kelly

(617) 300-3500

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FRONTLINE XXII/October 2004

 

 

 

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