You know whose opinion you should really value when assessing the impending retention of Bob Gates at the Pentagon? Larry Di Rita, the last living Rumsfeld
“„A partial list of the Bush/Rumsfeld program: the most extensive global and realignment since ; the complete realignment of the global U.S. force posture in Asia, Europe, and the ; the expansion and modernization of U.S. special forces; the redesign of the ; the most significant reduction in strategic forces in the nuclear era; the implementation and deployment of a basic system of defense against ; the creation of an entirely new civil-service system for the ; the establishment of new military commands for the Homeland, and Africa; the list goes on.
“„The secretary of Defense, vested with the authority of the president himself, provides [energy in the executive]. Without it, there cannot be true change against the naturally centrifugal forces of status quo among , members of Congress, and their constituents for whom defense spending is often looked at as a public works program. Rumsfeld muscled his way through these forces without fear or favor.