Good Friday Pentagon 'fact sheet" (counters Rummy critics).

[rodeodance]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/16/washington/16rumsfeld...

Pentagon Memo Aims to Counter Rumsfeld Critics

WASHINGTON, April 15 — The Defense Department has issued a memorandum to former military commanders and analysts that offers a direct challenge to the criticisms made by retired generals about Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

The one-page memorandum was sent by e-mail on Friday to the group, which includes several retired generals who appear regularly on television, and came as the Bush administration stepped up its own defense of Mr. Rumsfeld. On the political front, Republican strategists voiced rising anxiety on Saturday that without a major change in the course of the Iraq war Republican candidates would suffer in the November elections.

The memorandum begins by stating "U.S. senior military leaders are involved to an unprecedented degree in every decision-making process in the Department of Defense." It says Mr. Rumsfeld has held 139 meetings with the Joint Chiefs of Staff since the beginning of 2005, and 208 meetings with the senior field commanders.

And, seeking to put the criticism of the relatively small number of retired generals into context, the e-mail message notes that there are more than 8,000 active duty and retired general officers alive today

[rodeodance]

1. "The fact sheet was sent out to provide people with the facts,"

....The group that received the message was made up of both staunch Bush administration supporters and some who have been critical of administration policies. They are brought in periodically to consult with Pentagon officials and were notified on Friday that Mr. Rumsfeld wanted to meet with them this Tuesday.

A Defense Department spokesman, Eric Ruff, called the memorandum a "fact sheet" that was developed to provide detailed information to an influential group of analysts. In no way was it meant to enlist retired officers to speak out on behalf of Mr. Rumsfeld, Mr. Ruff said.

"The fact sheet was sent out to provide people with the facts," he said. "We would be doing a disservice to the analysts and the American public if we didn't provide exactly what the facts are."

One retired general who regularly attends the Pentagon meetings said Saturday that he found it unusual for the Pentagon to send such a memorandum in the middle of a heated debate, because it was almost certain to appear politically motivated.....