State of Denial, by Bob Woodward: on Homeland Security

Donald Rumsfeld: Anchor Chain memo: defense reform takes multiple presidents

"After 2 months on the job, it is clear that the Defense establishment is tangled in its anchor chain," he dictated. Distrust between Congress and the Defense Department was so great, he said, that "the maze of constraints on the Department force it to operate in a manner that is so slow, so ponderous and so inefficient that whatever it ultimately does will inevitably be a decade or so late." Without changing and fixing the relationship with Congress, Rumsfeld concluded, "transformation of our armed forces is not possible."

This "Anchor Chain" memo became notorious among Rumsfeld's staff. It sounded like he had almost given up fixing the Pentagon during the George W. Bush presidency. The task was so hard and would take so long, he dictated, that "our job, therefore, is to work together to sharpen the sword that the next president will wield.

Donald Rumsfeld: Guantanamo prisoners are "bad guys"; no tribunals needed

At an NSC meeting with the president, Rice began going through a long paper on the issues that everyone was supposed to have read and understood.

Rumsfeld leaned back and made it pretty clear he was not paying much attention. The president also seemed bored. But Rice plowed on.

"Don, what do you think about this?" Bush asked, interrupting Rice.

"They are bad guys," Rumsfeld said.

It was as if Rice and the NSC had one serious, formal process going on while the president and Rumsfeld had another one--informal, chatty and dominant.

George W. Bush: Committed in 1999 to military buildup

At the 1st Vulcan meeting in February 1999, Bush asked, "Is defense to be an issue in the 2000 campaign?" The advisers said they didn't think it would. Bush said he wanted to make defense an issue. He said he wanted to transform the military, to put it in a position to deal with new & emerging threats.

To do that, the advisers said, the military would need new equipment. Bush indicated he was willing to make that investment. Bush gave a speech at The Citadel in Sept: 1999: "I will defend the American people against missiles and terror," Bush said, "And I will begin creating the military of the next century. Homeland defense has become an urgent duty." He cited the potential "threat of biological, chemical and nuclear terrorism. Every group or nation must know, if they sponsor such attacks, our response will be devastating."

John Ashcroft: Advocated Guantanamo tribunals to test the court system

Attorney General John Ashcroft had become a strong internal advocate for starting tribunals. One way or another, the detainee cases were going to wind up reviewed by the federal courts. If they didn't have a credible tribunal process up and running, Ashcroft said, the Justice Department would be dead in the water when they tried to defend the system at the federal appeals courts.

At an NSC meeting with the president, Bush asked Rumsfeld, "Don, what do you think about this?"

"They are bad guys," Rumsfeld said.

It was as if the NSC had one serious, formal process going on while the president and Rumsfeld had another one--informal, chatty and dominant.