Rumsfeld Says Stopping WMD Attack a Top Priority
Global Security Newswire
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld yesterday said one of the military’s top priorities over the next four years is to stop “terrorists and dangerous regimes from obtaining weapons of mass destruction,” Voice of America reported (see GSN, Jan. 27).
Also designated as priorities in the Quadrennial Defense Review, expected to be published tomorrow, are defeating extremism, assisting “countries at strategic crossroads” and protecting the U.S. homeland, Rumsfeld said. The review is conducted every four years to update U.S. defense priorities.
“It has paid particular attention to finding ways to provide greater flexibility to military commanders so that they can employ a full range of capabilities in this new era of surprise,” Rumsfeld said of the review.
The review calls for expanding special operations forces to fight terrorist groups and stop WMD proliferation.
“The risk of very powerful lethal weapons moving into the hands of rogue states and/or terrorist networks is real. And certainly, the capabilities that the special operations force bring in this area are relevant,” Rumsfeld said.
The military must be able to meet conventional and “disruptive threats,” which requires more flexible soldiers, a longer-range Air Force, a Navy capable of operating off the coast of a countries as well as in open waters and improved intelligence, said Adm. Edmund Giambastiani, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The Defense Department planned budget for fiscal 2007, set to be published Monday, provides “a significant down payment” on these changes, Giambastiani said.
Ryan Henry, who heads the Pentagon’s review efforts, said in a recent speech that while the military is ready to fight a traditional war, it is more likely to face other conflicts. He said improvements of the military’s ability to respond to insurgencies, a WMD attack, or damage to the U.S. economy and infrastructure are needed (Al Pessin, Voice of America, Feb. 1).
