Reporter after reporter recently cornered Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to ask him to defend US presence in the middle of an Iraq civil war. Rumsfeld’s repeated response—with slight variations—“Iraq is not in the middle of a civil war.” He calls the situation “subterranean strife” and says “there is tension.” But, he says, the insurgents and terrorists are “trying to start a civil war.” So far, maintains Rumsfeld, the Iraqi leadership has been “very professional and very responsible.”
When acting Air Force Secretary Gary A. Ashworth rescinded service-wide “Family Days” last week citing the need to build readiness, he left it up to commanders, directors, and supervisors to decide if they would still permit extra days off. Here’s how Air Force major commands are taking that guidance.