I C H Preemptive Strike Against Rumsfeld Sat Oct 11 21:55:30 2003 64.140.158.151 Preemptive Strike Against Rumsfeld Means Battle Lines Are Drawn: So is this, as some Pentagon-watchers say, the beginning of the end for Mr Rumsfeld. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;$sessionid$3M3BPSP0A0ORLQFIQMGCFGGAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2003/10/11/wus11.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/10/11/ixworld.html Pre-emptive strike against Rumsfeld means battle lines are drawn By Alec Russell (Filed: 11/10/2003) For the "strongmen" of the Republican Party, it has been a week of mixed fortunes. The Grand Old Party gained a big winner in California with the election of Arnold Schwarzenegger and, whatever the Democrats say, this has to be a boost for the White House. But in Washington, that other and far more influential strongman, Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, has had his worst run since Mr Bush took office. His single-minded views and crisp, if not caustic, one-liners have made him one of the most dominating, high-profile and controversial Pentagon chiefs of all time. Six months ago, even his critics had to salute him after the lightning campaign in Iraq. Then on Monday he was hit by a pre-emptive strike. An authoritative insider leaked that the White House was taking more direct control of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan under the President's regular weekend guest, Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser. No amount of spinning could hide that this was a downgrading for the Pentagon. As for the "senior administration official" who leaked the story, that was widely seen as Miss Rice herself, whose job has been to mediate between the feuding heads of the defence and state departments. The White House quickly clamped down on talk of fissures in the top ranks. But it was the closest the administration had come to an admission that the Pentagon's running of post-war Iraq was not up to scratch. It also prompted a fit of pique from the defence secretary, who delivered a volley of his trademark putdowns, for once at his own side rather than his traditional targets, the war's critics. In an interview with The Financial Times and three European news outlets, he denied he had been consulted about the overhaul and said he was not aware of the classified memo that outlined the change. In other words, he was very, very angry. "I haven't had a chance to see how it is going to evolve but my impression is - there's no point of me making impressions. She [Ms Rice] said what she said." For an administration that likes to pride itself on its privacy, this was a striking turn. The White House spokesman had to retract an earlier statement that Mr Rumsfeld had been consulted, before embarking on a frenetic stint of damage control. So is this, as some Pentagon-watchers say, the beginning of the end for Mr Rumsfeld or does the outbreak of "snippiness" merely reflect the fraying of nerves in the administration at the wavering polls? "Rummy" has no shortage of enemies in the military and media. Insiders suggest that he will stay in his post until the next election but, if Mr Bush is voted back into office, he may not be in the next team. And of course it is Ms Rice, a prime candidate as a second term secretary of state, who will now bear responsibility for the news from Iraq. With the new inter-agency battle lines now formed in Washington, there will be no shortage of "leakers" wanting to point out who is to blame if things go wrong. 10 October 2003: I was protecting you from a madman, Bush tells America http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;$sessionid$25RNCMNCDAVW1QFIQMGCFGGAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2003/10/10/wirq110.xml ================ One killed as attacks on Iraqi police continue: A police officer has been killed and six others have been wounded in a grenade attack in Iraq. http://www.abc.net.au/news/justin/weekly/newsnat-11oct2003-45.htm === Iraqi Shia leader promises new govt: In yet another sign from the Iraqi people that they want the Americans out, a prominent Shi'ite leader has said he has formed a new government rejecting the American occupation. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4948.htm === Shiite Leader Forms Shadow Cabinet: Hundreds of Iraqis took to the streets of this Shiite holy city Saturday, October 11, in support for a shadow cabinet formed a day earlier by anti-U.S. firebrand Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr. http://www.islam-online.net/English/News/2003-10/11/article06.shtml === Islamic nations tell U.S. to leave Iraq: Muslim nations have demanded "eviction of all foreign forces from Iraq" at the start of a summit in Malaysia with only Turkey defending plans to deploy its troops alongside the U.S.-led alliance. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4947.htm === US told to avoid main Shia area in Baghdad: A powerful Shia Muslim movement warned US troops on Friday not to enter Baghdad's largest Shia neighbourhood after a gun battle there on Thursday night killed two US soldiers and two Iraqis. http://tinyurl.com/qk6c === Iraqis protest at US ' terrorism': Up to 10,000 Iraqi Shias have taken to the streets of a Baghdad suburb to denounce the US for "terrorism". http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3181392.stm === UN: Gaza raid violates international law: UN chief Kofi Annan is condemning the killing of Palestinian civilians in a massive Israeli army raid in southern Gaza, saying the disproportionate use of force in densely populated areas violates international law. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4942.htm === PA says US condones deaths of Palestinian civilians: "This rampage of killing and destruction is a war crime which should be strongly condemned by the international community. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4949.htm === 8 Palestinians killed in Rafah: Eight Palestinians, among them two children aged 12 and eight, were killed during an Israel operation in the Rafah refugee camp in the sourthern Gaza Strip. At least 60 Palestinians were wounded, most of them when a helicopter fired a missile at a crowd. http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/348240.html === Bible and sword: US Christian Zionists discover Israel: The first lobbying effort on behalf of a Jewish state in Palestine was not organized or initiated by Jews. It occurred in 1891, when a popular fundamentalist Christian writer and lay-preacher, William E. Blackstone. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4951.htm === Stalking Syria : Like the invasion of Iraq, the strike on Syria bears the fingerprints of hawks in the Bush camp. In 1996 Washington defence guru Richard Perle co-authored a report to the Israeli Government advising that it abandon talks with the Palestinians and concentrate instead on regime change in neighbouring Arab nations. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4944.htm === Red River: For the criminal mind, this is indeed a prize worth lying for, worth cheating for, worth killing tens of thousands of innocent people for. http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2003/10/10/120.html === Preemptive Strike Against Rumsfeld Means Battle Lines Are Drawn: So is this, as some Pentagon-watchers say, the beginning of the end for Mr Rumsfeld. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;$sessionid$3M3BPSP0A0ORLQFIQMGCFGGAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2003/10/11/wus11.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/10/11/ixworld.html === Bush officials bend Iraq facts till they break: The most obvious proof that Bush officials hyped and distorted evidence about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction in the past is that they continue to hype and distort that evidence today, with a shamelessness that is stunning. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4943.htm === THIS SITE IS 100% READER FUNDED Click here to make a donation using PAYPAL http://tinyurl.com/qhll Click here for more information http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/support.htm Thank you. === Iraq's Mysterious Invisible Weapons: The embarrassing exaggeration of Iraq's weapons is not going to go away before the presidential election. Patience only takes us so far. http://www.townhall.com/columnists/alanreynolds/ar20031009.shtml === Cheney Defends Decision for War in Iraq: Vice President Dick Cheney said the United States still faces enemies that could inflict hundreds of thousands of American deaths in a single day, and he defended the Iraq invasion as a critical strike against such terror. http://apnews.excite.com/article/20031010/D7U3DM1G0.html === Phony Letters From Soldiers In Iraq: This is one of the most disgusting things I've seen in a while. http://counterspin.blogspot.com/2003_10_05_counterspin_archive.html#106587184158441668 === This is how it goes… : "[W]e can’t be expected to fix the rundown and neglect of 30 years [of Saddam’s dictatorship]." Articulate these small lies often enough, and they become what I call ‘received opinion’. http://www.williambowles.info/ini/ini-0110.html === Bush's Vanished Prisoner: Jose Padilla now sits alone in a military cell where he is not even allowed to see his family (a son in Chicago and his mother in Florida) or use the telephone. He has to be wondering whether he will see the light of day again. http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0342/hentoff.php === Open to Attack: Bush gives in to chemical companies, leaving the nation vulnerable. "123 chemical facilities located throughout the nation have toxic 'worst-case' scenarios where more than a million people in the surrounding area could be at risk of exposure" http://www.progressive.org/nov03/cusac1103.html === UP to 30 Taliban fighters escape from Kandahar jail http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_412709,00050004.htm === US Warning to New Zealand Seen as 'Pique' Over Iraq: Lange said the U.S. appeared to be annoyed by New Zealand's opposition to the war on Iraq, and was reacting in a "somewhat browbeating fashion." http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=%5CForeignBureaus%5Carchive%5C200310%5CFOR20031009b.html === Russian Official Cautions U.S. on Use of Central Asian Bases: Defense Minister Sergei B. Ivanov of Russia said Thursday that his government expected the American military to withdraw from bases in two former Soviet republics in Central Asia once the mission in Afghanistan was completed. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4945.htm === India, Israel, Russia Sign $1 Billion Defense Deal: India signed a $1 billion deal on Friday to buy Russian surveillance planes outfitted with Israeli-made radar systems. The Israelis are to buy the Russian-made Ilyushin-76 transport planes from Uzbekistan. http://jang.com.pk/thenews/oct2003-daily/11-10-2003/main/main1.htm === FBI revokes its service award from Arab leader: After pressure from a pro-Israeli group and columnist, the FBI rescinded an award it had planned to give to a prominent Arab-American leader this week. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4946.htm === US: South America Remains Terrorist Center: The Bush administration's point man on terrorist financing has said that the training and funding of terrorists remains a problem in the region of South America where the borders of Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina intersect. http://www.iht.com/articles/113316.html === South Korean cabinet tenders resignations: The entire membership of the South Korean cabinet, from the Prime Minister down, have tendered their resignations to President Roh Moo-Hyun over a political funding scandal. http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s964862.htm === Venezuelan Intelligence Sources Warn Of USA-CIA Backed Coup Attempt: A heightened state of security is being maintained this weekend following multiple indications that a USA-CIA initiative is about to be launched against the government of President Hugo Chavez Frias. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4941.htm === Accusations rife in Caracas bombings: A string of bomb attacks in the Venezuelan capital has led to mutual accusations by the government and the opposition -- even charges of CIA involvement. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4940.htm === Venezuelan VP alleges CIA role in Caracas attacks http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N10328670.htm === US to Tighten Cuba Sanctions: They include tightening an American travel embargo to the island, cracking down on illegal cash transfers, and a more robust information campaign aimed at Cuba. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3181048.stm === Red Cross blasts Guantanamo: A top Red Cross http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3179858.stm === WEB SITE: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/ MIRROR HERE: http://informationclearinghouse.literati.org/ ARCHIVE: http://www.ymlp.com/pubarchive.php?feminine === PLEASE FORWARD SUMMARY OR ARTICLES TO THOSE INTERESTED & ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO SUBSCRIBE This is a free service and an unpaid volunteer effort to allow alternative viewpoints to reach the public. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/emaildigest.htm === THIS SITE IS 100% READER FUNDED Click here to make a donation using PAYPAL http://tinyurl.com/qhll Click here for more information http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/support.htm Thank you. === Liberty can not be preserved without general knowledge among people." 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