Rumsfeld Forecasts DoD's Path Ahead

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 26, 2001 - Defense Secretary Donald H.
Rumsfeld told reporters he would work toward fielding a
national missile defense system and to ensure the services
continue to attract and retain the best people.

Rumsfeld, in his first Pentagon press conference since
taking office, also said he would work to improve
intelligence gathering.

The challenge the United States' faces "is not as obvious
as during the Cold War ... but it's just as noble," Rumsfeld
said. The national security mission of the Bush
Administration, he said, "is to turn these years of
influence into years of peace."

Rumsfeld said he would work to ensure the United States has
the world's strongest and most capable military
institution. "A strong military does not guarantee peace
and stability in the world," he said. "But we know the
opposite is true - that weakness is provocative.

Weakness invites and entices people to do things they would
otherwise avoid, he said. "Our task is to fashion
deterrence to fit this new national security environment."

It is important that service members feel they are treated
properly," he said, "that they're valued, that they're
appreciated, that they're supported." The military must
attract and retain "the kinds of people we need to make
sure the armed forces of the United States can do the
assignments they face."

One focus of the Bush Administration is to build a National
Missile Defense. Rumsfeld said when the ABM Treaty was
signed in 1972 technologies and the circumstances in the
world were notably different.

"The Soviet Union - our partner in that treaty - doesn't
exist anymore," he said. "We're in a very different world.
... The principal threats facing the United States is not the
fear of a strategic nuclear exchange with the Soviet
Union."

Given the vastly different times and threats facing the
United States, the country must fashion offensive and
defensive capabilities, he said. "The president has not
been ambiguous about this," Rumsfeld said. "He says he
intends to deploy a missile defense capability for our
country. He has concluded it is not in the country's best
interest to perpetuate vulnerability."

The secretary said the Russians "have to know" that the
kind of missile defense capabilities the United States
proposes do not threaten them in any way. "They also have
to know if they look around the globe that there are other
threats," he said. "There are nations with increasingly
capable weapons, that because of the proliferation of
technologies are posing threats not just to the United
States but to countries in Europe and ultimately Russia."

Rumsfeld said he wants to work with the CIA to improve
intelligence capabilities and he had met with Director of
Central Intelligence George Tenet. "The United States must
fashion [intelligence capabilities] to fit the demands
facing us in the world," he said. DoD will work closely
with members of the intelligence community to see that
President Bush has the best possible information, he added.

Rumsfeld said he is working budget issues and whether there
is a supplemental to the fiscal 2001 defense budget is an
open question. Any decision in respect to the Base
Realignment and Closure process lies ahead of him, he said.

"I'm realistic [about BRAC]," he said. "I look at force
structure and believe that base structure ought to
reasonably fit it. And to the extent that it doesn't, one
obviously has to be respectful of taxpayers' dollars and
find ways to do the best possible jobs we can."

Rumsfeld is the first defense secretary to serve twice. He
was secretary from 1975 to 1977. "I remember my time here
well and with a great deal of pleasure," he said. "It's a
wonderful institution. The men and women in uniform are so
special and important to our country. Certainly the
dedicated civilians here in the department and across the
globe do a superb job for our nation."

He said when he agreed to be secretary again, "I thought of
President Theodore Roosevelt's observation that 'the best
prize life offers is to work hard at work worth doing.'
This work is certainly worth doing."