There's Leaking and Then There's Leaking

Here's the memo from SecDef Donald Rumsfeld, Oct. 16, published at USA Today, Oct. 22.

Funny, isn't it? How the "leak" of some CIA "operative" is simply outrageous, but the "leak" of a memo from the secretary of defense to his immediate subordinates is jim-dandy. It seems to me that the former was outrageous because outrage over the "leak" could be used to make the Bush administration look bad, but the latter is not outrageous because the "leak" can be used to make the Bush administration look bad.

I think what we really need are "leaks" of memos and e-mails from, say, NYT and WaPo and USAT about how the editorial staff decided to handle these particular "leaks". I think they would be much more revealing, and much more useful, to the American public.

By the way, if you really read and understand the Rumsfeld memo, you see that it reveals him as a thoughtful, reasonable leader and planner asking tough questions to help to make sure we're doing, both strategically and tactically, the right things in the War on Terrorism.

See also David Warren:

.... My impression from speaking with several administration, especially Pentagon, insiders, and by observing what one can discover of the extension of U.S. operations overseas (through the securing of basing and landing rights and other joint agreements), is that we should expect the field struggle against international terrorism to disappear off our television screens. The media have been discovered to be an enemy, pure and simple, and no attempt to brief or include them in operations makes any sense. Indeed, shaking off media attention is now intrinsic to the strategy....

(Thanks, Bryan.)

P.S. David Tucker has a good analysis of the memo, at the Ashbrook Center:

USA Today has published a remarkable memorandum from Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld on the war on terrorism. The newspaper or whoever leaked it to USA Today may think publishing the memo will harm Rumsfeld or the Bush administration. The paper’s headline on its accompanying article is "A Grim Outlook." The article itself says the memo contradicts "upbeat" accounts of the war on terror by Rumsfeld and the administration. But this is exactly the opposite of what the memo shows. In fact, the memo is a cause for optimism about the war....

P.P.S. Thanks, Dust in the Light.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 10/23/03 09:31:01 AM
Categorized as Media.