Lack of Pentagon support threatens Bush's Iraq plans [View All]

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/usatoday/20031013/ts_usatoday/11898682&cid=676&ncid=1473

The suicide attack on a Baghdad hotel Sunday, which killed six Iraqis, is the latest example of the growing violence and floundering reconstruction efforts that argue for President Bush's shake-up of his Iraq team. The Pentagon, which has been calling the shots, now will report to a group headed by national security adviser Condoleezza Rice.

The restructuring, announced last week, is aimed at putting the White House in more direct control of postwar efforts six months after the fall of Baghdad. It only can work, though, if the Pentagon recognizes the need for the change. And early signs aren't good. While leaders of Congress praise the reorganization as a major and appropriate shift, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld dismissed it as mere fine-tuning.

His reaction may be face-saving posturing. But the administration's long-term success in creating a democratic and prosperous Iraq depends on getting the Pentagon to focus on what it does best: security operations. It also requires the Defense Department to step back from what others do better, such as managing reconstruction, distributing aid and getting a political system running. So far the Pentagon hasn't.

Defense officials say other agencies are handling chores that require more than military know-how. Yet turf wars have smothered good ideas.

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