Various news reports quote departing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld as declaring that the Administration would create an Africa Command within a couple of months. He made the remark during an awards ceremony in which he praised Theresa Whelan, deputy assistant for African affairs, for her work on the implementation planning group.
The emphasis on speed in the Pentagon’s newly unveiled slate of acquisition reforms may come with increased near-term cost increases, analysts say. But according to U.S. defense officials, the new weapons-buying construct provides the military with enough flexibility to prevent runaway budget overruns in major programs.
