Thursday, June 22, 2006

Rumsfeld Vindicated

For transforming the military. And he should be justly praised says Emmett Tyrrell:

Rumsfeld arrived at the Pentagon for his second stint as secretary of defense (he also held the post during the Ford administration) charged to reform the military. Still organized to fight a Cold War, it had to be reorganized for future wars. It had to be brought into line with the Goldwater-Nichols Reauthorization Act of 1986, calling for cooperation among the services and an end to inter-service duplication. Rumsfeld transformed this legislation into Pentagon doctrine. "He did that in spades," Jed Babbin, the Pentagon watcher, remarks. Then came the war in Iraq. Never before have the armed services operated in such smooth combinations so agilely. Rumsfeld was vindicated.

He's had a really tough job, having to overcome the Military Industrial Complex and a Congress extremely adverse to any weapons cuts. All the while leading America's offensive against the terrorists who launched 9/11.