27 September 2001
Byliner: Defense Secretary Rumsfeld on America's New Kind of War
(Says this war will be like none other our nation has faced) (680)
(This byliner was published on the editorial page of the September 27,
2001, issue of The New York Times. Persons who intend to redistribute
this byliner should give credit to the New York Times as the source.)
A New Kind of War
By Donald H. Rumsfeld
(The author is the U.S. Secretary of Defense.)
Washington -- President Bush is rallying the nation for a war against
terrorism's attack on our way of life. Some believe the first casualty
of any war is the truth. But in this war, the first victory must be to
tell the truth. And the truth is, this will be a war like none other
our nation has faced. Indeed, it is easier to describe what lies ahead
by talking about what it is not rather than what it is.
This war will not be waged by a grand alliance united for the single
purpose of defeating an axis of hostile powers. Instead, it will
involve floating coalitions of countries, which may change and evolve.
Countries will have different roles and contribute in different ways.
Some will provide diplomatic support, others financial, still others
logistical or military. Some will help us publicly, while others,
because of their circumstances, may help us privately and secretly. In
this war, the mission will define the coalition -- not the other way
around.
We understand that countries we consider our friends may help with
certain efforts or be silent on others, while other actions we take
may depend on the involvement of countries we have considered less
than friendly.
In this context, the decision by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi
Arabia -- friends of the United States -- to break ties with the
Taliban is an important early success of this campaign, but should not
suggest they will be a part of every action we may contemplate.
This war will not necessarily be one in which we pore over military
targets and mass forces to seize those targets. Instead, military
force will likely be one of many tools we use to stop individuals,
groups and countries that engage in terrorism.
Our response may include firing cruise missiles into military targets
somewhere in the world; we are just as likely to engage in electronic
combat to track and stop investments moving through offshore banking
centers. The uniforms of this conflict will be bankers' pinstripes and
programmers' grunge just as assuredly as desert camouflage.
This is not a war against an individual, a group, a religion or a
country. Rather, our opponent is a global network of terrorist
organizations and their state sponsors, committed to denying free
people the opportunity to live as they choose. While we may engage
militarily against foreign governments that sponsor terrorism, we may
also seek to make allies of the people those governments suppress.
Even the vocabulary of this war will be different. When we "invade the
enemy's territory," we may well be invading his cyberspace. There may
not be as many beachheads stormed as opportunities denied. Forget
about "exit strategies"; we're looking at a sustained engagement that
carries no deadlines. We have no fixed rules about how to deploy our
troops; we'll instead establish guidelines to determine whether
military force is the best way to achieve a given objective.
The public may see some dramatic military engagements that produce no
apparent victory, or may be unaware of other actions that lead to
major victories. "Battles" will be fought by customs officers stopping
suspicious persons at our borders and diplomats securing cooperation
against money laundering.
But if this is a different kind of war, one thing is unchanged:
America remains indomitable. Our victory will come with Americans
living their lives day by day, going to work, raising their children
and building their dreams as they always have -- a free and great
people.
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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