Bunker Mentality

[richlevy]

From here.

<nyt_headline version="1.0" type=" ">Military Service Chiefs Demoted in Line of Pentagon Succession </nyt_headline>

<nyt_byline version="1.0" type=" "></nyt_byline>By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: December 30, 2005

<nyt_text> </nyt_text> WASHINGTON, Dec. 29 (AP) - The three military service chiefs have been dropped in the Bush administration's doomsday line of Pentagon succession, pushed beneath three civilian under secretaries in the inner circle of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

A recent executive order from President Bush moved the Pentagon's intelligence chief to the No. 3 spot in the succession hierarchy. Mr. Rumsfeld is No. 1, and the second spot would be the deputy secretary of defense, but that position is vacant at the moment. The Army chief, who long held the No. 3 spot, was dropped to sixth.

The changes, announced last week, mirror the administration's new emphasis on intelligence gathering versus combat in 21st-century wars.

The line of succession is assigned to specific positions, rather than the people holding those jobs.

But this version of the doomsday plan moves up the top three under secretaries, who are Rumsfeld loyalists and who previously worked for Vice President Dick Cheney when he was defense secretary.

Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, said the changes were recommended because the three under secretaries have "a broad knowledge and perspective of overall Defense Department operations." He said the service leaders were more focused on training, equipping and leading a particular military service.

So if the US is hit hard enough to force the goverment to go underground, the priority is for intelligence gathering versus the commanders of the military? This administration is looking more and more like the cast from Dr. Strangelove. Maybe they figure that the chiefs will fight harder if their asses are on the line. Or maybe they need someone to tell them the fighting is going well even when they are being overrun like they did with Nassar in Egypt.