By Wendy Wang
Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, opened the briefing with remarks on the necessity of the defense supplemental appropriations. From this morning's gaggle, we learned that of the $65 billion in the defense supplemental, $760 million was taken out that they want replaced. Of the total package, $5.9 billion will be for training and equipping. DOD argues that with increased Iraqi independence it is necessary not to back down from any part of

reconstruction. The first question of the day pertained to troop draw-down. Rumsfeld says that he still cannot anticipate when a drawdown would take place as the Iraqi government is not stabilized. He will not set a deadline when it is not apparent when the political infrastructure will be firmly in place. CIA Director Nomination. Asked to confirm claims that the Pentagon, he in particular, is trying to seize more control over intelligence gathering and put CIA purviews under the jurisdiction of the DOD, Rumsfeld chalks such talks as being overly sensationalized. He called these talks "pedestrian." Instead of focusing in on the greater issue of collecting intelligence, he accuses members of the media of focusing capillary details, which alludes to conspiracies. He claims that there is no disagreement within the departments (CIA, DNI, FBI and DOD). In fact, he is in full agreement with Negroponte on his view of the DOD. No single entity should be in charge of intelligence given the complexity. There is no power grab, there is no political fight. There is nothing that is done within DOD that hasn't been worked out, unilaterally with the other agencies. "There is no poewr play in Washington (D.C.)," Rumsfeld says. Asked if he admitted that prewar intelligence to Iraq was flawed, Rumsfeld admitted that the intelligence was flawed. In which case, how could he trust that the intelligence he is receiving on Iran now is correct, and as a consumer of intelligence, did he not have a high stake in the quality of intelligence that he receives? Rumsfeld says that he absolutely believes in the importance of intelligence but recognizes that it's a tough business and that there will be flaws. It's tough to be right all the time. Does the revelation of intelligence flaws give one pause, Rumsfeld pontificates: "You bet!"