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Donald Rumsfeld, US defence secretary, said on Tuesday he had not been told by President George W. Bush or the National Security Council that the White House was to restructure the handling of postwar Iraq before the media were briefed on the plan by NSC officials...
He said he did not know why Ms Rice, Mr Bush's national security adviser, had felt it necessary to send a memorandum about the new organisation to cabinet officials or brief the New York Times about the move...
Mr Rumsfeld declined to comment on the perception that the move was an attempt by the White House to strip control of the rebuilding from the tight grip of the Pentagon...
But people close to the Pentagon said on Tuesday that Mr Rumsfeld's account appeared to be at odds with that of Ms Rice.
Originally posted by kukla
I thought about that DR, but how could you describe either Condi or Rummy as a dove? This also muddles the "football" question.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House Wednesday sought to paper over any differences with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who complained he was not told of a postwar Iraq reorganizational shake-up.
Rumsfeld's annoyance at the White House emerged during an interview he gave to London's Financial Times newspaper, a rare display of public pique within President Bush's famously disciplined inner circle....
But the move was perceived in Washington as giving the State Department a greater say in postwar reconstruction in Iraq. State Department officials have felt sidelined from what would normally be an effort they would lead.
"What it means is that, at least in the policy formulation stage, other agencies are going to have a bigger voice than they had up to this point," said Ivo Daalder, a defense analyst at the Brookings Institution think tank. "And in that sense, by definition you're seeing a diminution of Rumsfeld's ability to control that process."
White House spokesman Scott McClellan singled out a portion of Rumsfeld's remarks to the Financial Times, that the defense secretary said the NSC's job is to coordinate policy, to suggest there was no difference between the White House and Rumsfeld.
"I looked at what he said, and it's right in line with what we said," he added.
McClellan had said Monday that Rumsfeld had been consulted and approved of the shake-up in advance, but he said on Wednesday: "Maybe I should not have characterized it that way."