Donald Rumsfeld
A Talk with the Secretary of Defense

Listen to the radio interview.

Web Exclusive: Hear an extended version of the interview.

Feb. 14, 2002 -- The American military stands on the cusp of a new era. Even as the United States wages war on terrorism, it must also continue to prepare for more conventional conflicts. Indeed, if the war on terrorism came to involve, say, Iraq, it could conceivably become a conventional conflict. Preparing for both kinds of war is an expensive and controversial proposition. At the center of the problem sits Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Photo: Ellen McDonnell, NPR

"There are critics on both sides," Rumsfeld told Morning Edition host Bob Edwards on Wednesday during a wide-ranging interview. "There are people who say we aren't buying enough ships, enough of the legacy systems. And then there are people saying we didn't transform enough (to prepare for) asymmetrical threats -- terrorism, cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, cyber attacks, weapons of mass destruction.

"It sounds to me like if we're catching it from both sides, we might be in a pretty good place."

President Bush's proposed military budget puts Rumsfeld in a pretty good place -- it earmarks $379 billion for defense, a $48 billion increase that represents the biggest hike in military spending in 20 years.

But with Mr. Bush making fresh noises Wednesday about keeping his options open on Iraq, the question is, how ready is the military to mount a large-scale operation there if called upon to do so, even as it pursues the war on terror elsewhere in the world?

The short answer from Rumsfeld: Yes, the military is ready. He didn't offer specifics.

In the meantime, Rumsfeld must deal with the cleanup in the aftermath of the Afghanistan operation -- including reports of accidental killing of civilians by U.S. forces and rumblings that Taliban and al Qaeda forces are regrouping in remote areas and across Afghanistan's borders.

Whether that's true, one thing hasn't changed since Sept. 11: The campaign against terror isn't likely to end anytime soon. "The al Qaeda and the Taliban haven't gone away," Rumsfeld said. "They've drifted into the mountains. They've drifted over borders -- these are serious people and we didn't catch them all. We didn't kill them all."


Previous NPR Coverage

'70s Flashback: Rumsfeld Named Defense Secretary Again

NPR's Tom Gjelten interviewed Rumsfeld last June.


Other Resources

• A 1996 book -- The Advent of Netwar -- provides some insight on the challenges of conflict in the 21st century.

• The Defense Department's transcript of the interview.

• Rumsfeld's bio on the Defense Department's Web site.

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