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Rumsfeld: No Decisions Made on US Defense Strategy
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in a closed-door session with the House Armed Services Committee Wednesday that he has made no decisions yet on strategy and other fundamental issues he has taken under review.
In an indication the strategy could take many more weeks to develop, Rumsfeld said he hoped that Congress would hold hearings on questions such as whether the United States should abandon the principle that the military must be prepared to fight two major regional wars almost simultaneously.
He said he has not decided whether such a change would be wise or whether he favored an alternative approach.
Rumsfeld is considering questions not only about how and when to use force, but also how big the military should be, how it should be organized and for what missions.
Rumsfeld has come under growing criticism, privately by some military officers, more publicly by several important lawmakers, for sharing too little of what he is doing inside the Pentagon.
On Friday, President George W. Bush will give the commencement address at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, where he is expected to discuss military issues but not make public a new national security strategy, according to White House officials.
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