US SecDef Rumsfeld Resigns
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Donald Rumsfeld resigned as US Secretary of Defense on Wednesday, November 8, 2006. Former CIA chief Robert Gates has been nominated as his replacement. There has been a fair bit of commentary on Rumsfeld’s tenure, much of which – appearing in the popular press – seems shallow and ephemeral rather than informed by deep looks into the organization, the challenges of military and procurement reform, or the forces shaping military procurement going forward. Meaningful assessments of the positive and negative aspects of Rumsfeld’s tenure are likely to emerge only with time and serious study.
Having offered that caveat, DID points to a few articles of some worth, along with links to some of DID’s past features covering either SecDef Rumsfeld himself or key challenges/ milestones during his tenure. Readers who wish to suggest other useful or insightful pieces are invited to submit the URLs and a quick statement of why each item is worthy to tips@ here at defenseindustrydaily.com.
- DoD DefenseLINK (Nov 8/06) – Six Years of Accomplishments With Rumsfeld. Chronicles the various steps taken, changes made, et. al. during his tenure.
- Slate (Nov 8/06) – A Catalog of Failure. If you want a representative countervailing piece that offers either an inside military or conventional Democratic party critique of Rumsfeld’s tenure, this is a pretty good example. Phil Carter just returned from a deployment in Iraq with the 101st Airborne. If you’re curious about his specific recommendations for Iraq, this article offers some.
- Defense Tech (Nov 8/06) – New Congress: Army Up? (Updated Again). Looks at the effect of political winners and losers in the 2006 mid-terms, and sees potential gains for the US Army and Marines. It may even revive this next effort…
- DID (Oct 13/06) – US Army Takes Its FY 2008 Budget Appeal Directly to OMB. Unsuccessfully, but recent political shifts may change that.
- DID (March 15/06) – Pentagon Acquisition Reform: Quits, Fits, and Edits. 3 views.
- DID (Feb 28/06) – The Pentagon’s Broken Book-keeping. Discusses the magnitude of the challenge, progress to date, and the views of long-time critics. This topic seems trivial, but it’s essential because it determines the quality of information that decision-makers have in order to judge programs and true costs in historical context.
- DID (Feb 6/06) – The USA’s 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review: Report & Reactions. Reactions vary; there is one clear opinion thread that Rumsfeld’s vision of defense transformation met its Waterloo here.
- DID (Oct 25/05) – Pentagon Creates Business Transformation Agency
- DID (Sept 7/05) – Rumsfeld’s Organizational Transformation. Interesting and fairly in-depth assessments regarding Rumsfeld’s organizational reforms from Thomas P. Barnett and the liberal Brookings Institute
