VM-2619

WS PRESS ROOM SHOWING JOURNALISTS AS DONALD RUMSFELD TAKES THE PODIUM AND GREETS THE AUDIENCE

THEY PURPOSELY USED WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN MILITARY AREAS TO SHIELD THEIR ACTIVITIES, THEY PURPOSELY PUT MILITARY EQUIPMENT NEXT TO SCHOOLS AND MOSQUES

JOURNALIST "CHARLIE" ASKS RUMSFELD ABOUT THE WAR BEING CALLED A "SHADOW WAR". ARE YOU WORRIED THAT THIS IS TURNING INTO A PUBLIC RELATIONS DISASTER.

ABOVE VIEW NEWS MEN, WOMEN LISTENING TO RUMSFELD SPEAK ABOUT BUDGET AND TRANSFORMATION OF MILITARY, TAKE NOTES.

JOURNALIST ASKS FOR DETAILS ON WHAT ATTACKS RUMSFELD FOILED, WHAT EVIDENCE. RUMSFELD: "WHEN THE FORCES IN A COUNTRY ARE DOING THINGS THAT AREN'T PUBLIC, WE DON'T ANNOUNCE THOSE THINGS. THERE ARE OTHER THINGS THEY DO WHICH ARE NOT ANNOUNCED UNTIL THEY HAPPEN. OTHER THINGS THAT ARE TAKING PLACE IS THAT PEOPLE ARE BEING DISCOVERED AND TAKEN INTO CUSTODY. INTELLIGENCE IS BEING GATHERED.

MYERS I THINK THE SECRETARY AND I, WE ARE ANXIOUS TO SHARE SOME OF THESE SUCCESSES, BUT ONCE YOU DO THAT THE TACTICS, YOU REVEAL THOSE TACTICS. WE'VE JUST GOT TO BE VERY VERY CAREFUL. NO MATTER HOW THESE INVESTIGATIONS TURN OUT, THEY ARE THE MOST PROFESSIONAL AND DISCIPLINED FORCES THERE ARE. SOME OF THOSE DETAINEES COULD EASILY HAVE BEEN KILLED. THE FACT THAT THEY WERE DETAINED AND NOT KILLED I THINK IT INDICATES THEY ARE PROFESSIONAL.

A DECISION WAS MADE TO FIRE THE HELLFIRE MISSILE. IT WAS FIRED. IT APPARENTLY HIT THREE PEOPLE. AN INVESTIGATION WAS DONE

THIS ATTACK WAS APPROPRIATE. THERE HAS BEEN NO CHANGE IN MY MIND. BECAUSE THERE HAS BEEN A QUESTION THERE IS AN INVESTIGATION. QUESTION ABOUT HOW MUCH INTERACTION BETWEEN CENTCOM (SP?) DOD AND THE CIA ABOUT IT. RUMSFELD ANSWERS THAT THERE HAS BEEN PLENTY OF INTERACTION. MEYERS WONDERS WHY THERE WAS AN APPARENT CONTRADICTION ON INFORMATION RELEASED.

QUESTION ABOUT DEVELOPING A JOINT TASK FORCE HEADQUARTERS. IF WE HAD HAD THAT WOULD IT HAVE HELPED THIS OPERATION AT ALL. MEYERS RESPONDS THAT IT WOULDHAVE BEEN HELPFUL

REPORTER MENTIONS TWO WEEKS AGO JUST BEFORE THE RAID OF SPECIAL FORCES IN KANDAHAR, AFGHAN OFFICIALS SAID THEY WERE IN NEGOTIATION WITH THREE TALIBAN OFFICIALS- WERE YOU AWARE OF THOSE NEGOTIATIONS. RUMSFELD RESPONDS THAT THERE ARE MANY NEGOTIATIONS GOING ON ALL THE TIME. IT'S A CONTIOUS PROCESS

THE OVERWHELMING AMOUNT OF ACTIVITIES HAVE BEEN UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE CENTRAL COMMAND, AND THAT'S PARTICULARLY TRUE AFTER THE FIRST MONTH. ONE EXCEPTION HAS BEEN THE ARMED PREDATORS, WHICH ARE RUN BY CIA OPERATIVES. ..

ASIAN FEMALE REPORTER ASKS IF U.S. SHOULD MAKE PRE-EMPTIVE STRIKE AGAINST NORTH KOREA, IN LIGHT OF THEIR NUCLEAR, BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS?

QUESTION ABOUT REGIME CHANGES WITHIN THE US MILITARY. RUMSFELD SAYS CONGRESS PASSED LEGISLATION ABOUT REGIME CHANGE. THE TIMING IS SOMETHING FOR THE PRESIDENT AND THE COUNTRY TO MAKE THOSE DECISIONS.

IF YOU THINK ABOUT WHAT THE PRESIDENT AND SECRETARY POWELL HAVE SAID, WHAT THEY HAVE SAID, SEEMS TO ME TO BE SELF-EVIDENT. EVERY YEAR THAT GOES BY AND THE INSPECTORS ARE NOT THERE, THE DEVELOPMENT OF THEIR WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION PROCEED APACE, BRINGING THEM CLOSER TO A TIME WHEN THOSE WEAPONS ARE MORE THREATENING.

RUMSFELD DISCUSSES "KNOWN UNKNOWNS" VS. "UNKNOWN UNKNOWNS".. AND IF ONE LOOKS THROUGHOUT THE HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY, IT IS MOST DIFFICULT TO DEAL WITH THE LATTER

RUMSFELD TELLS OF TERRORISTS CAMPS IN OTHER COUNTRIES BESIDES AFGHANISTAN WHICH INCLUDE, SYRIA, LIBYA, SOMALIA, LEBANON, SUDAN, SOME IN ASIA. "THERE ARE A GREAT MANY PEOPLE THAT HAVE BEEN TRAINED".