War Messages That Don't Quite Match (Bush vs. Pentagon) [View All]

[deadparrot]

WASHINGTON — Are the president and the Pentagon on the same page over the war in Iraq?

That question is percolating in Washington after President Bush twice in the last 10 days tried to clarify a message sent by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and military leaders.

After Rumsfeld and other Pentagon officials indicated their desire to shift away from discussing the struggle against terrorism as a "war" — saying it placed too much emphasis on military solutions to terrorism — Bush repeatedly used the word "war" in an Aug. 3 speech to conservative state legislators.

Then on Thursday, Bush dismissed as "rumors" and "speculation" reports that U.S. commanders were contemplating significant withdrawals of American troops from Iraq next year. His comments came after Army Gen. George W. Casey, the top U.S. military official in Iraq, and Army Lt. Gen. John R. Vines, the top ground commander, had publicly raised exactly that possibility.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/latimests/warmessagesthatdontquitematch