DonBoy

Let me say publicly that DonBoy’s answer exudes a combination of intuitive genius and confidence that make me think DonBoy is going to do big things in his life. -- Steven D. Levitt (Freakonomics blog)

Wednesday, December 08, 2004

"You go to war with the army you have."

This, as we've heard, is Donald Rumsfeld's to complaints that troops in Iraq are foraging for their own armor in scrap heaps. Fred Kaplan in Slate misses the point of the remark, I think:

[H]is answer was wrong. If you're attacked by surprise, you go to war with the army you have. But if you've planned the war a year in advance and you initiate the attack, you have the opportunity—and obligation—to equip your soldiers with what they'll need. Yes, some soldiers will get killed no matter the precautions, but the idea is to heighten their odds—or at least not diminish them—as they're thrust into battle.

All well and good, but surely the not-very-subtext of Rumsfeld's answer is "It's Bill Clinton's fault." No?

- posted by Don Porges @ 12/08/2004 09:35:00 PM

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