Rumsfeld, Bush, and Prescott

[davewitley]

walked into a bar one day and...

Actually, I think the Rumsfeld quote is quite interesting.  I 
haven't followed his activities closely, but as I understand it, 
while he may be a bete noire to Europeans and the left, the people 
he has really picked a fight with (Saddam might be surprised to 
learn this) are the US military.

This quote sounds like it might partly be about shaking up the 
mindset of the military.  Working out what you know and then 
determining how to find out the things you don't know is what 
intelligence (in the military sense) is all about.  And, in terms of 
doctrine, this is about having a plan, and then using your 
intelligence capability to fill in the blanks in your plan - 
Rumsfeld's 'known unknowns'.  IOW, spyplanes and the like don't fly 
around hoping to discover interesting things which then inform the 
strategic planning; they are sent out on specific missions to find 
out the things commanders need to know to execute their plan.

Rumsfeld may have been saying that, particularly in a world where 
enemies don't fight symmetrically (giant armies grinding each other 
down) it might be a good idea to think laterally and consider you 
may have information coming in which does more than fill in the 
blanks.  I think, intellectually, he's up to that.

Now, concerning Bush, I think that while it's possible to be very 
amusing at his expense, in fact his *meaning* is nearly always 
clear.  When he talks about 'misunderestimating' or 'Grecians' you 
know what he meant to say.  So I don't really think he's in the 
running for the Foot in Mouth awards as conceived, which are about 
cleaning up gobbledegook.

For sheer incomprehensibility, you do need John Prescott.  I can't 
cite examples, because they just aren't snappy and memorable - 
they're 'huh?' moments.

David, always happy to put in a good word for W.