Rumsfeld Rejects Negative Reports About Army

Donald Rumsfeld has rejected the findings of two separate reports that the U.S. Army is stretched to the breaking point by multiple combat tours and insufficient troop levels, as well as increasingly severe recruitment and retention problems.

One of the reports was commissioned by the Pentagon; but clearly Rumsfeld does not like its conclusions.

The first, a report on the Iraq war that was commissioned by the Pentagon and made public Tuesday, said defense officials risk "breaking the force" if current troop levels are maintained in both countries without increasing the size of the Army or slowing the pace of deployments.

The second, issued Wednesday by Democrats on Capitol Hill, warned that unless the strain on the Army and Marine Corps is relieved soon, "it will have highly corrosive and potentially long-term effects on the force." Over time, it argued, the services would be weakened and the country would be more vulnerable to potential enemies.

At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld rejected both reports, saying that "it's clear that those comments do not reflect the current situation. They are either out of date or just misdirected."

Rumsfeld said he hadn't read either report. Recounting the quick initial victories in Afghanistan and Iraq, he said the Army wasn't broken, "but enormously capable."

What an ass. How can he reject the conclusions of reports he hasn't even read?