Rumsfeld gives out bad marks for communication effort

AP via Houston Chronicle:

The United States is faring poorly in its effort to counter ideological support for terrorism, in part because the government does not communicate effectively, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Monday.

Rumsfeld made the remark in response to a question from a member of his audience at the Army War College, where he spoke on the challenges facing the country in fighting a global war on terrorism.

"If I were grading I would say we probably deserve a 'D' or a 'D-plus' as a country as to how well we're doing in the battle of ideas that's taking place in the world today," Rumsfeld told his questioner.

"I'm not going to suggest that it's easy, but we have not found the formula as a country" for countering the extremists' message.

Rumsfeld said the al-Qaida terrorist network and affiliated Islamic extremists are the most brutal enemies the United States has ever seen.

Rumsfeld warned that unless the terrorists are stopped, they will continue to seek the means to launch even deadlier attacks on the West in the years ahead.

...

Hopefully the future generals will do a better job of communicating their strategies and objectives. The US did a good job of that in Gulf War I in both Washington and in the theater. This group of generals is too shy with the media. They are too defensive and they do nothing to get inside the news cycle. Like the silly shia reaction to the attack on the terrorist this week, our side is late and defensive.