■"Rumsfeld Details Big Military Shift In New Document: Drive for Pre-
Emptive
force, Wider Influence Will Trigger Changes in Strategy, Budget," by Greg Jaffe, Wall Street Journal, 11 March 2005, p. A1.
The Secretary's planning document for the Quadrennial Defense Review is out, and it signals the big changes that have reached their tipping point in the Pentagon:
The document sets out Mr. Rumsfeld's agenda for a recently begun massive review of defense spending and strategy. Because the process is conducted only once every four years, the review represents the Bush administration's best chance to refashion the military into a force capable of delivering on the ambitious security and foreign policy goals that President Bush has put forth since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 . . .
Mr. Rumsfeld's goals, laid out in the document, mark a significant departure from recent reviews. Deeply informed by both the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and by the military's bloody struggle in Iraq, the document emphasizes newer problems, such as battling terrorists and insurgents, over conventional military challenges . . .
In the document, Mr. Rumsfeld tells the military to focus on four "core problems," none of them involving traditional military confrontations. The services are told to develop forces that can: build partnerships with failing states to defeat internal terrorist threats; defend the homeland , including offensive strikes against terrorist groups planning attacks; influence the choices of countries at a strategic crossroads, such as China and Russia; and prevent the acquisition of weapons of mass destruction by hostile states and terrorist groups.
Contractors and defense firms wedded to the Leviathan's old focus on great power war will suffer in the meantime, as big-ticket items will be cut short in numbers. The big question according to one involved official is "how much is enough to win the conventional fights of the future, and where can we shift some resources to some of these less traditional problems?"
The shift to the SysAdmin force is on—full throttle.
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