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Rumsfeld might revamp U.S. two-war strategy

rumsfeld
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld  

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld acknowledged Tuesday that he is considering whether to change the standard calling for a U.S. military that can fight two wars at once.

The goal of being able to fight and win two major wars nearly simultaneously has been a mainstay of U.S. defense strategy for more than a decade.

In a Pentagon briefing, Rumsfeld indicated that the standard might not be a realistic yardstick, given the multiple missions that U.S. troops are asked to perform. But he denied a recent Washington Post report he that has decided to abandon the policy.

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    "Listen, if you believe everything you read in a major metropolitan newspaper, I'd be going 18 directions at once," Rumsfeld said.

    Nevertheless, Rumsfeld said the two-war requirement led to one of the Army's top divisions as being rated unready for war last year -- not because of lack of training or equipment, but because it was busy with peacekeeping chores in Bosnia.

    "So the question comes, mightn't we want to size our forces also for some other things, like a Bosnia or a Kosovo or a non-combatant evacuation in some country, or maybe one or two or three of those things?" Rumsfeld asked. "And so it is that exercise that we're going through."

    President Bush used the example cited by Rumsfeld during the campaign to back up allegations that the U.S. military was neglected by the Clinton administration. Rumsfeld's view appears to coincide with what the Pentagon argued last year: That there was not a readiness problem in the Army, but rather a problem with listing units already deployed as the first to fight in a major war.



    RELATED STORIES:
    Pentagon denies Rumsfeld has decided to drop 2-war strategy
    May 7, 2001
    Rumsfeld urges missile defense system during confirmation hearing
    January 11, 2001

    RELATED SITES:
    U.S. Department of Defense
    U.S. Office of Management and Budget

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