From the Desk of Donald Rumsfeld . . .In Sometimes-Brusque 'Snowflakes,' He Shared Worldview, Shaped

Source: WPost



From the Desk of Donald Rumsfeld . . .
In Sometimes-Brusque 'Snowflakes,' He Shared Worldview, Shaped Policy

By Robin Wright
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 1, 2007; Page A01

In a series of internal musings and memos to his staff, then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld argued that Muslims avoid "physical labor" and wrote of the need to "keep elevating the threat," "link Iraq to Iran" and develop "bumper sticker statements" to rally public support for an increasingly unpopular war.

The memos, often referred to as "snowflakes," shed light on Rumsfeld's brusque management style and on his efforts to address key challenges during his tenure as Pentagon chief. Spanning from 2002 to shortly after his resignation following the 2006 congressional elections, a sampling of his trademark missives obtained yesterday reveals a defense secretary disdainful of media criticism and driven to reshape public opinion of the Iraq war.

Rumsfeld, whose sometimes abrasive approach often alienated other Cabinet members and White House staff members, produced 20 to 60 snowflakes a day and regularly poured out his thoughts in writing as the basis for developing policy, aides said. The memos are not classified but are marked "for official use only."

In a 2004 memo on the deteriorating situation in Iraq, Rumsfeld concluded that the challenges there are "not unusual." Pessimistic news reports -- "our publics risk falling prey to the argument that all is lost" -- simply result from the wrong standards being applied, he wrote in one of the memos obtained by The Washington Post.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/31/AR2007103103095.html?hpid=topnews

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Your posting is in GD not LBN.

I wonder how long ago he wrote this one?

as has been reported-part of the reason that NO planning for "post war" operations was because in doing so people might find out that everyone knew that this wasn't going to be quick and easy. They couldn't do what the Pentagon does, which namely is plan, because establishing a 6-month/1 year/5 year/10 year plan could cause even the slackass DC press to wonder aloud how long this was going to take and maybe even peaking reader/listner interest (because there is no way the DC press would spend the extra 15 minutes necessary to dig THAT deep) into any other goals or objectives of this invasion by it's architects.

:)