Donald Rumsfeld 'kept ADF (Australian Defence Force) in dark'

[sabra]

Source: the australian

FORMER US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld deliberately blocked Australian access to top-secret Pentagon intelligence on Iraq and Afghanistan in defiance of an order from George W. Bush, according to former top US officials.

The Pentagon stalled for nearly two years on the presidential directive of July 2004 giving Australian military planners access to its classified internet system, prompting a formal complaint from John Howard to Mr Bush in 2006.

In a critical assessment of Mr Rumsfeld's tenure at the Pentagon, author and journalist Robert Draper cites a number of instances of the Pentagon boss finding ways to stall decisions made by the administration.

Writing in GQ magazine, Draper asserts that Mr Rumsfeld held up the implementation of the 2004 presidential order granting the US's two closest allies, Australia and Britain, access to the Pentagon's SIPRNet or classified internet system.

Read more: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25515023-2702,00.html

[atreides1]

1. I Wonder Who Rumsferatu was listening to

Could it have been Darth Cheney? The real President!

[SpiralHawk]

2. "Sneer" - xVP Dickie 'Five Military Deferments' Cheney (R)

[alsame]

3. As if there was any doubt that Bush was

never in charge of anything important.