Rumsfeld: Defense Strategy Outdated

By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - The ``two war'' strategy that has underpinned U.S. military planning for the past decade has outlived its usefulness, leaving the United States increasingly vulnerable to emerging threats like ballistic missiles and cyberattack, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told Congress.

``The current strategy is not working, so we owe it to ourselves to ask: What might be better?'' Rumsfeld said.

He spoke before the Senate Armed Services Committee (news - web sites) and later the House Armed Services Committee. It marked Rumsfeld's first public congressional testimony since he took office in January. Some in Congress have complained that Rumsfeld was keeping them in the dark, although several committee members applauded him Thursday for undertaking an in-depth review of defense needs.

The U.S. defense strategy, fashioned in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union, is based on a capability to win two ``major theater wars'' - on the scale of the 1991 Gulf War (news - web sites) - at nearly the same time. The idea is to have enough combat forces to sustain a conflict in the Persian Gulf, with enough in reserve to dissuade North Korea (news - web sites), for example, from starting a conflict with South Korea (news - web sites).

Rumsfeld said this approach worked well during the 1990s but has been undermined by a lack of investment in the advanced military technologies needed to meet emerging threats. He also said the Pentagon (news - web sites) had ``skimped on our people, doing harm to their trust and confidence.''

Rumsfeld said the Defense Department has sketched the general outlines of a new defense strategy and hopes to present it to the White House for President Bush (news - web sites)'s approval by late summer. It is being closely examined now by a civilian-military team of experts as part of a broad defense review, he said.

Rumsfeld also told the committees that the administration hopes to have an amended 2002 defense budget request ready for Congress by Wednesday. He provided no figures.

He described the emerging new defense strategy in broad terms, with the barest of detail. He said it would emphasize being prepared for future threats while defending the United States against current threats like terrorism and nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

It also would enable the United States to maintain forces abroad capable of defeating any adversary, repelling attacks in ``a number of critical areas,'' and conducting a limited number of smaller-scale military missions.

He said the new strategy could require modifications in war plans, but did not elaborate.

Underlying the Bush administration's push for a new defense strategy is the president's belief - shared by Rumsfeld - that the existing approach has put too much strain on the troops and emphasized near-term threats like war on the Korean peninsula at the expense of emerging threats like cyberwar.

Evidence of the difficulties in finding an alternative emerged in Thursday's exchange with members of the House Armed Services Committee.

Rep. Floyd Spence (news - bio - voting record), R-S.C., told Rumsfeld he thought it was premature to drop the current approach because it serves an important purpose in dissuading potentially hostile nations from thinking that they could catch the United States short if it became involved in a war in the Gulf.

``If we change it we confuse a lot of people - friends and allies,'' Spence said.

Rumsfeld said he fears the United States has become complacent about defense, since the Cold War is over, the U.S. economy is strong and the country faces no immediate threat to its existence.

To illustrate his point he told the story of a Union general who surveyed his Confederate adversary across the battlefield and, confident in his superior position, turned to an aide and said, ``They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance.'' A moment later a sharpshooter's bullet struck him under his left eye, killing him instantly.

``Complacency can kill,'' Rumsfeld said.

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Rumsfeld to Recommend Defense Strategy (June 21)

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