a reporter asked rumsfeld doesn't this look like vietnam? and he bristled at that statement. he said no wars are like the last wars, no wars are like the next wars. every war is in its own, and it's very different. and i said, you know, i've been in the military 40 years, i see similarities. i see patterns. so that sort of triggered me to look at the patterns. what is it that you can use as a framework to examine this and look at this? well, you know, first of all you can look at reasons we interveeped, you know? we would -- interveeped. we would like to think we intervene if attacked, if our interests are threatened in some way. not so clear. you know, the wmd in iraq that wasn't there, the gulf of tonkin incident that didn't happen. we've had some manufactured reasons for going to war. you know, back in the '20s and '30s, the banana wars in the caribbean were to promote our business interests in there. there are times we've gone to war for territorial expansion back when we were filling out the united states. so the reasons aren't very clear. the first part of the book talk

a reporter asked rumsfeld doesn't this look like vietnam and he bristled at that statement. he said no wars are like the last wars. no wars are like the next wars. every war is in its own and it's very different. i said you know, i've been in the military 40 years. i see similarities. i see patterns. so that sort of triggered me to look at the patterns. what is it that we can use as a framework to examine this and look at this? first of all you can look at the reasons we intervened. we would like to think as americans, we intervened our interests are threatened in some way. not so clear. wnd and iraq that wasn't there in the gulf of tonkin incident that didn't happen. we have had manufactured reasons for going to war. back in the 20s and 30s the banana wars and the caribbean promoted or business interests there. there are times we have gone to war for territorial expansion back when we were filling out the united states so the reasons are very clear. the first part of the book talks about what i call triggering events. what are the events? sometimes their leadership actually

, in fact, when you put rumsfeld and cheney in a room together, i mean, they could control a bureaucracyike no other pair of individuals could do. so, before the director of national intelligence, the so-called national intelligence czar, got his desk at the new building, rumsfeld had already created the undersecretary of defense for intelligence and made sure that the responsibilities stayed with the pentagon. and when you look at the entire intelligence community, 80% to 85% of the budget and personnel belong to the military whether they're civilian or military. it's a military operation. that's why it -- a cia outside of that military process was so important. and if you look at the directors of national intelligence with the exception of one individual, a retired foreign service officer, john negative uponty and served for a while and realized he had no authority and resigned to take a position at state, all of the directors of national state have been retired generals and flag officers, admirals and i would argue that the military which does a lot of things extremely well, one of th

so, the way that rumsfeld and bush designed the war, rumsfeld really designed the war, was to avoid democrat attacks for being -- whatever imperialists. they didn't go into the syria for the same reason. by that time the democratic party was in fuel throat, accusing -- you know, when i -- i wrote a book about -- i actually have written three books about iraq. the third one will be out in october. as part of the black book series. but the second book -- i forgot what my train of thought was there -- we were doing rumsfeld and the way -- oh, why they -- yeah. they didn't go into syria because the -- the democrats -- they were exposing national security programs, the left destroying national security programs that protected americans from terrorist attacks, and they got -- and the bush administration was paralyzed. they should have prosecuted "the new york times" and the "washington post" for publishing them, and they should have gone everybody -- they should have been saying, the democrats, this is treasonous, this is treasonous. we're at war. oh, when i wrote the second book on iraq -- now i

rumsfeld. it's old and stale. it's on the shelf. this was a war plan that was wargame time and time again, adjusted every year, proved by the joint chiefs of staff, forces allocated, exercised by centcom and by its composed. the required 308,000 troops every going to go into iraq. why? we had a field borders. you had to control the population as she rolled back the regime. if you didn't seal the borders, all kinds of crazies would come over. if he didn't control the population they would start killing each other. you had these brilliant civilians who had gone to that the gaming, that analysis, that understands that the intelligence gave us. remember he said it will be a liberation, flowers in the street, a cakewalk. we can do this with 130,000 troops. they will greet us with flowers in the streets. those flowers were ak-47s, unfortunately. >> if you're revising president obama about isis, what with that advice be? >> i think there are parts of things we need to do right away, and parts of thing

and so am i. >> donald rumsfeld is in saudi arabia tonight. first stop on a four-nation tour of the region preparing allies for possible military strikes in afghanistan. >> the impact that september 11th, the feeling about that, and the threat it poses to the world has been taken aboard, and not just the united states, but country after country afte country, and you can feel it when you talk to the people. >>> with u.s. approval, british prime minister tony blair laid out more details of the international case against osama bin laden. >>> at least three of these hijackers have already been positively identified, and noticed of bin laden. >>> the bombs of the" u "uss co allegedly planned by one of the hijackers. >>> september 11th rallied the country, but it also introduced to america, looks at neighbors diffentl pay be attention to things they didn't pay attention to before and then you had the anthrax attack. >> a businessman in florida, in the hospital. anthrax confirmed by the centers for disease control. the hospital reports it will most l

and so am i. >> donald rumsfeld is in saudi arabia tonight. first stop on a four-nation tour of the region preparing allies for possible military strikes in afghanistan. >> the impact that september 11th, the feeling about that, and the threat it poses to the world has been taken aboard, and not just the united states, but country after country after country, and you can feel it when you talk to the people. >>> with u.s. approval, british prime minister tony blair laid out more details of the international case against osama bin laden. >>> at least three of these hijackers have already been positively identified, and noticed of bin laden. >>> the bombs of the" u "uss co allegedly planned by one of the hijackers. >>> september 11th rallied the country, but it also introduced to america, looks at neighbors differently. pay be attention to things they didn't pay attention to before and then you had the anthrax attack. >> a businessman in florida, in the hospital. anthrax confirmed by the centers for disease control. the hospital reports it will m

, in fact, when you put rumsfeld and cheney in a room together, i mean, they could control a bureaucracy other pair of individuals could do. so, before the director of national intelligence, the so-called national intelligence czar, got his desk at the new building, rumsfeld had already created the undersecretary of defense for intelligence and made sure that the responsibilities stayed with the pentagon. and when you look at the entire intelligence community, 80% to 85% of the budget and personnel belong to the military whether they're civilian or military. it's a military operation. that's why it -- a cia outside of that military process was so important. and if you look at the directors of national intelligence with the exception of one individual, a retired foreign service officer, john negative uponty and served for a while and realized he had no authority and resigned to take a position at state, all of the directors of national state have been retired generals and flag officers, admirals and i would argue that the military which does a lot of things extremely well, one of the thin

donald rumsfeld is in the national camilla terry mann center -- national military command center.e asks if anybody can take a shot. we're looking into it. in the meantime i'm going 7, 6, 5, 4 -- we are counting down. all i can do is say, " unbelievable. the largest military superpower in the world does not have an asset to take a shot at this guy." 3, 2. the vice president waves his hand in front of my face and says "stop. if the secret service cannot deal with it on the roof standby for impact." i put my hand on the console and think about all those people who are still upstairs. i did not even know if i would feel it where i was. yet, we have cooks and secret service agents and everybody that maintains the white house people in the situation room giving intel reports all vulnerable. "stand by for impact." at the last minute, those radios blared a life. "that's not a bogey. that's a medical helicopter headed for the pentagon. they are not talking on the right frequency." here was a medical aircrew racing down the potomac to get to the pentagon to respond to those burn victims and

lou: i thought it was the donald rumsfeld. >> he was talking about the army.: i know he was talking about early, i was building on that, john. >> i did earlier. lou: did you really. i'm sorry, i neglected to give you full credit. >> what should american policy be, whether we have a competent president or not, i think that safety of america, and the safety of our forces, is enhanced if you strike now. and every day that goes by, gives isis a chance to build up defenses to attract more jihadis. lou: lets me ask this nothing would -- well, there are lot of things that would be more important, i don't know -- it is important, i will acknowledge we have retribution for the american citizens who have been beheaded. but if we put that in don text against -- context of number of american lives lost in iran, a third of our casualties causeed by iran, why is there this interest of going to war over the dramatic grous gruesome murf two of our citizens but not a sense of retribution against iran for what they did to our armed forces, our troops our soldiers our marines, w

i heard the people weep about secretary rumsfeld.e. the guard, in company of the 150th pennsylvania, the buck tails, have left the soldier's home and will be stationed in another fort. the president will be up early on the morning of the 11th. the confederates had paused at rockville and john mccauselin with his calvary sweeps down the georgetown pike, now wisconsin avenue, arriving at tenially circle while the rest of the confederate army moves cross-country on farm roads leading from rockville to turn in to the 7th avenue extended, now georgia avenue. and by noon, they are approaching silver spring. the president, i can imagine the secret service. now, the secret service will not be responsible for the president's security until two other presidents have died at the hands of an assassin. not until the summer of 1902 does the secret service become responsible for the big man in the white house. you can imagine him on that day as the president goes out and visits fort stevens and other forts. yes, he is here at fort stevens on the af

>> i'm reminded of an interview i did with donald rumsfeld.bout the president's action in libya. he said generally, you define an objective and build a coalition. what president obama did in libya was to build a coalition and later tried to define the mission. i worry that's what's happening here. the president seems far more concerned with building the coalition than identifying a very clear objective. i'm worrying that we're not going to get the support we need from our international actors because they don't know that we are committed to a clear objective. so i think the president still has come work to do in terms of setting out those clear objectives, how long are we going to be there, what is the goal, who are we trying to eradicate and how far will we go to do it before he gets that coalition that he wants and i think should have. >> you know, wolf, the problem with defining the clear objective, which i agree he ought to do, that if you define it as destroying isis, you have to say to the american people, this is open ended. that this i

. >>> secretary rumsfeld told me when i talked to him that felt the blast shake the pentagon. coming here makes me sad on the one hand. and also it kes me angry. our country will, however, t be cowed by terrorists. >> he was thoughtful and determined and had resolve that the ited states would lean forward and not lean back. that we wod not go along the path of the prior administration, treating terrorism as ariminal matter, andeing in absentia and he resolved the only way to do that was not to play defense but to play offense. >> we hunted for him and i led the hunt from '96 to '99 in ismabad pakista but we did have bin laden in u.s. gun sights on two occasions and on both occasions the decision was made not to take the ot. not to pursuwith the operation. >> be very critical that we find the black box. we, began, were working towards that area, beuse that's where they felt it might be. started to find more and more victims ading back towds the ba area. >> more than 200 people remn unaccounted for at the pentagon. rescue crews there are hoping to have enough demolition work don

secretary of defense donald rumsfeld, a few moments ago was refusing to leave the building. no confirmation of the latest threat, but security officials here are taking it very seriously, and we were standing with secretary rumsfeld's security detail who, as soon as they got the report, were running into the building and we were herded away, but they have set up an alternative command site somewhere in the area. the pentagon set up a crisis team to deal with this situation. but, so far, the latest reports are that another plane of some kind may have been hijacked and headed in this direction. katie? >> yeah, we also should tell you, mik, this is tom brokaw, that the faa says that all international flights headed for the united states are being diverted to canada. this at a time when, as jim is telling us, there is an unconfirmed report that there is another hijacking, and all takeoffs were stopped, but there were planes in the air obviously at the time of the first two attacks on the twin trade towers and then on the pentagon. >> let's look at the live pictures at the world

. >> well, it looks like-- >> i think it's tricky diplomatically, and, you know, donald rumsfeld washe one who said there are known unknowns and unknown unknowns. there are lots of moving parts. lots of things can go wrong. by going into syria, we may end up owning that civil war. that's not the good news. the alternative is doing nothing. that was not acceptable. >> there was some thinking that syria would not be aboard. however, listen to this. syrian deputy foreign minister says syrian leader bashar al assad is also an enemy of isis and would be willing to cooperate in any military action against the terror group. here it is. >> we shall cooperate with any country that's combating the menace of terrorism. and when it comes to combating isis, then we have no reservations whatsoever to work together with any real force that wants to eliminate this menace, because now the united states and syria are facing the same enemy. >>> question, is it feasible that the u.s. would team with syria in the fight against isis? i ask you, tom? >> in military terms, it's feasible. but i don't think i

urinating and death are kidding themselves it's a tactic that former secretary of defense donald rumsfeld personally encouraged in two thousand and two same quote i stand for eight to ten hours a day so why is standing limited to four but standing for long periods of time pales and compare. and to what else prisoners allege took place namely rape according to washington post the f.b.i. was told by release detainees that they were quote raped and sexually violated after guards took them not isolated sections of the prison they said an algerian man was forced to watch a video supposedly showing two detainees dressed in orange one sodomized the other and was told that would happen to him if he didn't cooperate other forms of physical abuse included dogs on detainees which is a particularly hostile tactic for muslims but seizing on the cultural sensitivities of the islamic faith was really relentlessly exploited by officials according to a document obtained by the a.p. a former army sergeant says he witnessed a female officer reaching her pans to reveal what appeared to be menstrual blood and

[ laughter ] >> in the words of donald rumsfeld, we don't know what we don't know. >> that was the beginning of the erosion of our society as we know it. >> i make lots and lots and lots of money. and money will somehow trickle down to you. no way, i share my toilet with no man. move it along. >> i am a man of simple needs. the idea of running up the steps and disemboweling royals, i could easily imagine myself doing that. it would not take much convincing. >> now where's my damn toga? ♪ i took a walk through this beautiful world ♪ felt the cool rain on my shoulder ♪ ♪ found something good in this beautiful world ♪ ♪ i felt the rain getting colder ♪ ♪ sha la la ♪ sha la la la la la ♪ sha la la la la la la >> can you hear that over here? >> i got to begin with the softball questions. >> okay. >> so dad, it's been two years on the road with "parts unknown," how do you feel about the show? has the experience changed? is it still fun? >> that's a hard question! you know, one of the great things about travel is just when you think that i've had enough of this, something really interesting happens

and former middle east advisor to defense secretary rumsfeld. most americans haven't heard of them until this morning. and who are they and what are they about? >> this is yet another al-qaeda spin off. one of the leaders of the group was one of the original members of al-qaeda, and had been read in the plans of 9/11 and he lived in iran for a while and then transferred to syria where he was affiliated with another group. and they have the group that is focused on not retaining territory like isis or pursuing al-qaeda militancy but just attacking the west and united states in particular. >> some respects. they would be tougher to go after than isis. isis has vehicles and territory that it holds. this group is more eph emoral. >> and they had a group. and it is reported that they killed the leader of the group it is unclear. yes, they will go to ground and disappear and be hard unless we have boots on the ground and operational intelligence from human sources. >> the aim apparently of the obama administration and others is to continue to use air

in the words of donald rumsfeld, we don't know what we don't know. we know it's the beginning of the erosion of our society as we know it. i make lots and lots and lots of lots of money, it'll trickle down to you. i share my toilet with no man. move it along. i am a man of simple needs. i have to be disembowelling royals, i could easily manage myself doing that, it would not take much convincing. now where's my toga? ♪ ♪ i took a walk through this beautiful world ♪ ♪ felt the cool rain on my shoulder ♪ ♪ found something good in this beautiful world ♪ ♪ i felt the rain getting colder ♪ ♪ sha la la la la ♪ sha la la la la la ♪ sha la la la la ♪ sha la la la la la la >> can you breathe that over here, buddy? >> i'm going to begin with the softball questions. >> okay. >> so dad, its been two years on the road with parts unknown, how do you feel about the show? have they experienced change? is it still fun? >> it's a hard question. you know one of the great things about travel is just when you think that i've had enough of this, something really interesti

administration there were a group of general officers who started to speak out against what secretary donald rumsfeld was doing at that time. and certainly what general ray odierno said earlier in the day. it is really up to the line. and he talked about the testimony. but if he feels under his prerogative as adviser to the commander in chief, the military advisor, he tells them what he thinks. and we need to make sure that art chairman has that freedom. and obviously the president decided today when he was in tampa that he wasn't going to accept th and as you have been reporting for the last few minutes, i don't think anyone outside of the white house in a few political people that support the president, believe that he has a plan that is going to work. reed if that is the case, is this just the pentagon racing the flag up the flagpole to see what the reaction is of the public? or is this going to lead to some sort of fight where we will see resignations or firings? >> i don't think you're going to find too many resignations. and i can remember talking to some very senior people years later after th

well, you know, i remember my old boss rumsfeld said you go to war with the army you have, not the army you wish you had. in the reality there's consequences of action and not the consequences of inaction and the -- >> but general, is he setting the troops up to fail here whether add vert ently or inadvertently. >> you are spot on. we do not have a strategy. we have not even called it provide comfort or whatever, we don't have a name for it. we don't have a strategy. so he's doing these things that are tactical and they don't have a strategic end game. and we haven't in almost a month now we've flown 176 and we ought to be flying a minimum of 200 targets or -- a day. so it's piecemeal. it's pinpricks. and we are just immunizing the enemy. we are allowing syria to be a sanctuary. and he hasn't defined what his goals are there. he wants to degrade and destroy, megyn, please. those are two separate campaigns. this campaign could be over in 90 days if we did what we did in desert storm where we had massive air power or in operation iraqi freedom. massive air power with ground power. >> but

on the next "washington journal" a military assistant for then defense secretary rumsfeld talks aboutilitary options against isis. then congressman brad sherman of california on president obama's upcoming speech on u.s. strategy against isis and threats posed by the terrorist group. "washington journal" is live every morning at 7:00 eastern on c-span. you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. veterans affairs secretary robert mcdonald and acting veterans affairs inspector general richard griffin testified before the senate veterans affairs committee tuesday on the state of the va. live coverage at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span.org. >> with congress back in session here is a message to congress from one of the year's c-span student cam competition winners >> water. it makes up 75% of our bodies. take water away, and humanity would parish within a week. water is the most vital substance to a human body yet it is because of us humans that nearly 50% of all streams, kes, bays, and estuaries are unsuitable for use, due to pollution. in the u.s. we have learned to take water for

[ laughter ] >> in the words of donald rumsfeld, we don't know what we don't know. >> that was the beginning i make lots

rumsfeld told us we'd be in and out of iraq in 90 days. what a bunch of nonsense.ing into this. >> so finally, congressman, it's going to come down to intel, isn't it? intel will have to play a big part. we have to know who these arms are going into the hands of. do you think we'll ever know that? >> well, i think there's always going to be some measure of judgment that the president -- and this is what -- this is the heavy part of his job. he has to make a decision on imperfect intelligence. he will never know exactly what he's getting into. and i think that's why it's such a tough decision to make, but i don't think it should be done recklessly. >> yeah. there are no easy options. >> none. >> congressman jim mcdermott of washington, good to have you with us tonight, sir. thank you. >> that's "the ed show." "politicsnation" with reverend al sharpton starts right now. >> good evening and thanks to you for tuning in. i'm live tonight in minneapolis. breaking news tonight, a danger to the president. that is what a federal prosecutor said today about white house fence

military options to defeat isis with former pentagon official steve bucci, who served under donald rumsfeld's now a foreign and national security policy expert at the heritage foundation. later, brad sherman, california democrat and ranking member of affairse foreign terrorism subcommittee. we will talk about president obama's speech tomorrow and the u.s. strategy for if eating ices. first, a bit of former andidents george w. bush bill clinton yesterday launching the presidential leadership scholars program. [video clip] , therst, i wanted to do it great test for any democracy at any time is how to have vigorous ,ebate, serious disagreement knockdown, drag out fights -- and somehow come to ultimately a resolution that enables the country to keep moving forward. the founders set our job was to create a more perfect union. they never said our job was to agree on everything. , if you read the constitution, it ought to be subtitled "let's make a deal." [laughter] was studiously designed to avoid dictatorship. therefore, leadership styles, they are all different. in the end, we have to let our d

we get in as chief of staff the former congressman from illinois, donald rumsfeld, who brings in with him a completely unknown kid from wyoming as his assistant chief of staff, dick cheney. you have got ford being brought in at the cia. by the way, they call it the ford foundation, because so many of these people are going to go formork in some shape or for ronald reagan or george bush, and they learned their craft under president ford. but i appreciate that. >> thank you. yes. >> spiro agnew has to resign. >> indeed, he did. >> who championed jerry ford to be vice president? >> excellent question, because the list is actually very long. the first person who championed him was melvin laird, who was a andressman from michigan nixon's secretary of defense. he knew jerry ford very well, and, by the way, this entire list, everything they say to nixon is the same thing. he will be confirmed, because nixon does not want ford. he wants john conley. nixon wants john conley, who is the secretary of the treasury, and who had split from the democratic party. nixon feels a kinship with conley, an

rumsfeld threw away the plan 380,000 troops.ot to take down the regime and the republican guard, to seal the borders, control the population, prevent looting and prevent ethnic and religious -- it has to be a true occupation. you overwhelm it. this is colin powell. this is casper weinberger. overwhelm it. shorter timere a to regain stability, and there will be less casualties. the same thing in afghanistan. remember, al qaeda got away. >> you still have a lot of friends who you talk to about national security. what do they tell you about the president? >> he's viewed as weak. whether that is a perception or reality. >> is is reality -- is it realiy? there's confusion. we hear from the secretary of state and this secretary of defense strong statements but not quite as strong from the president or the vice president. the vice president comes on a lot stronger. >> this morning saying, we are at -- the gartes of hell. >> that is an element in this. he seems very deliberative. exudesn't seem to confidence. as i say in the book, one o

in the words of donald rumsfeld, we don't know what we don't know.ning of the erosion of our society as we know it. i make lots and lots and lots of lots of

we get in as chief of staff the former congressman from illinois, donald rumsfeld, who brings in with him a completely unknown kid from wyoming as his assistant chief of staff, dick cheney. you have got ford being brought in at the cia. by the way, they call it the ford foundation, because so many of these people are going to go and work in some shape or form for ronald reagan or george bush, and they learned their craft under president ford. but i appreciate that. >> thank you. yes. >> spiro agnew has to resign. >> indeed, he did. >> who championed jerry ford to be vice president?

then, in 2003, defense secretary rumsfeld said the iraq war "could last six days or six weeks. i doubt six months." vice president dick cheney said, quote, "i think it will go relatively quickly, in week rather than months." ten years later we were still there. do you think the president has outlo outlined how we will get out of this? >> i don't. i think he has got support from the american people this is a threat that need to beaddressed. i think we have to be careful. a lot of people are saying, we have isisen ein iraq and syria. we'll do the iraq piece. and do the syria piece. we have to be careful not to separate them. isis is one target. it should be treated as one target set. no matter where they are. and the target should be attacked regardless of what side of the, line on the map they are. you have to find out what the centers of gravity are. go after logistics, commanders, wherever. if we start going after the iraqi portion, they'll just move everything to syria. so -- i think the president's laid out a good starting point. but the military is going to have to do this

. >> host: steve bucci assistant secretary of defense donald trump -- donald rumsfeld is here takingyour questions and calls. georgetown massachusetts on the independent line. >> caller: thanks for having me. i had then following actions here since 2000 when everything seemed to be put to in the american and citizens face you are with us are the terrorists. that is when i drew a big question mark because that seems to be the most anti-american and things that i have heard as far as who we label terrorist. we seem to not go for the root causes but to react to current conditions. >> host: what is the root cause is your? >> caller: the so-called isis group? >> i would say it is our intervening in the middle east we went into iraq under false pretenses that was sold to the american people because they would send a drones with nuclear stuff to blow us up over here. that scare tactic to get the american people to power down to do as we're told to listen to authority. >> guest: al qaeda as you recall a attacked us september 11, 2001, well before anything we did in iraq. isis originated al q

rumsfeld said we could get it done with 95,000 people, and we could not. shinseki was right.t would've have taken 300,000 americans on the ground to control the situation in iraq. so if you make the misjudgment on this, you're going to wind up with some really bad situations that i think general dempsey is being very honest, again, a military man. if you say, is it possible? he has to say, yes, it is possible. at the president's position at this point is, there will be no troops on the ground. but the president wants to come back to the american people and say, i believe our national interest are at stake here and we should put troops on the ground, that is something that clearly, he could do it some point. but at this point, his position is, we can do it without that. i think you have to at least respect the fact he is trying his best to keep us out of a third war. we've had afghanistan. we had iraq. and now we're sort of back into iraq and now syria is opening up. you have to ask yourself, at what point do the americans admit that there are some things we cannot solve by mi

in the case of iraq, we're the ones that said rumsfeld should resign that we had to do the surge.urge succeeded. the situation was stable. and if we had left a force behind, the kind that the president should be reconstituting now, we wouldn't be where we are today, bill. >> even if done that. >> we had it won. yes we had won. i guarantee you i was there. there is no doubt about that. >> i agree with you. the price that was paid has southward americans -- sorrowed-soured americans. hard to get their attention to do what is necessary to defeat isis. you see what i'm saying. >> of course. i know exactly what you mean. i hear it from my constituents all the time. i think these beheadings have obviously -- and the polls she it. you have echoed, referred to those polls on your show, that there has been a drastic change of attitude because they are deeply concerned about them being able to attack the united states of america as mr. baghdadi said after he left our prison, camp bucca and he said see you in new york. i believe them. and look what is happening in australia as we speak. aust

because this is part of our strategy and rumsfeld said, no, we can do it.thn is as a result they wentn more quickly than they would have gone in before .it. they left some fighters behind. and, well, we all know how the rest of that story played out. not that that's the whole reason for it, but that's part of the story.ay waleed fareed is with us. fox middle east analyst with use where do you see us tonight as the first tomahawks have been dropped? >> well, shep, the most important happening tonight in my eyes is the formation of wham i can coin already an arab nato. let me precise which one, saudi arabia, the uae leading the air force, bahrain and jordan.he this is the core. obviously qatar has a different situation which we can't discuss. but these four counts now are a war with isis and alongside with us. now, remember a few weeks ago there was a question about the uae air force bombing a jihadi position in libya. j so this has been in preparationb these four countries are going all the way. they know that isis and al qaedi are eyeing them. the two questions are about one and let m

iraq, rumsfeld through away the plan which required 380,000 troops in iraq not to take down the regime and the republican guard, but to seal the borders, protect population, prevent looting -- it had to be a true occupation. you overwhelm it. this is colin powell, casper weinberger, overwhelm it. this is our strength. it will require a shorter time to regain stability and less casualty. in afghanistan, al quaida got away in tora bora. >> charlie: what do your friends around the world tell you about the president. >> he's viewed as weak, whether a perception or reality. >> charlie: is it reality he's weak? >> it appears that way. we hear from the secretary of state and defense voong statements but not quite as strong from the president. >> charlie: or the vice president. >> or the vice president. the vice president usually comes on stronger. >> charlie: that's my point, this morning, the gates of hell. >> the gates of hell. so that is an element. he seems deliberative. he doesn't seem to exude confidence. you know, as i say in the book, one of the key things is the need to win the battl