Tanker Inquiry Finds Rumsfeld's Attention Was Elsewhere

[ProSense]

Tanker Inquiry Finds Rumsfeld's Attention Was Elsewhere

By R. Jeffrey Smith
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 20, 2006; A15

The topic was the largest defense procurement scandal in recent decades, and the two investigators for the Pentagon's inspector general in Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's office on April 1, 2005, asked the secretary to raise his hand and swear to tell the truth.

Snip...

But a copy of the transcript, obtained recently by The Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act after a year-long wait, says a lot about how little of Rumsfeld's attention has been focused on weapons-buying -- a function that consumes nearly a fifth of the $410 billion defense budget, exclusive of expenditures in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Snip...

The tanker procurement scandal is the poster child for these problems. The Air Force in 2004 canceled its plan to lease the tankers from the Boeing Co., amid allegations of improper collusion with the company. Former Air Force procurement officer Darleen A. Druyun and one of the interlocutors at Boeing were sent to prison; subsequent investigations showed that Druyun manipulated other large Air Force contracts to benefit military contractors.

Snip...

But the scandal never tarnished Rumsfeld, and in the previously undisclosed interview, conducted with principal Deputy General Counsel Daniel J. Dell'Orto at his side, the defense secretary makes clear that he does wars, not defense procurement. As a result, he could not recollect details of what subordinates told him about the tanker lease or what he said to them.

more...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/19/AR2006061901090.html?nav=rss_business/government

[ProSense]

1. Squandered $30 billion leasing hundreds of unnecessary tanker aircraft

It was a bumpy start to an odd interview, as Rumsfeld cited poor memory, loose office procedures, and a general distraction with "the wars" in Iraq and Afghanistan to explain why he was unsure how his department came to nearly squander $30 billion leasing several hundred new tanker aircraft that its own experts had decided were not needed.

[bridgit]

2. has anyone really listened to rumsfeld testifying on the hill...

said to be the most adept at the art of bureaucratic infighting, my further sense is that rumsfeld is 'justified in self', as a supreme act of ego when he prevails...yet what is a bureaucrat in too many cases but a source of systematized gobbledygook, which rumsfeld personally excels at

insofar as the tanker 'deal', i'm sure rumsfeld felt his work was done so that of course his attentions were elsewhere...the rest, i had heard, was left to they such as Uncle Buck Bush, who had direct stakes & benefits in the project; rumsfeld knew he would benefit from a host of other, more creative options is my guess

lack of oversight cannot be overlooked as to why rumsfeld has not been tarnished even as yet imo

[ProSense]

3. Rumsfeld speaks in riddles.

If no one can understand him, that means he can't be held accountable.

Problem here is he was distracted from procurement by "the wars," which means that even when he's focused, he's still incompetent!

[bridgit]

4. i think that's right, i think that's why he thinks...

he can say "i didn't lie about the WMD's in iraq..." with a semi straight face, he feels confident he can pass a lie detector test