Paul Wolfowitz interviewed by Hugh Hewitt
A transcript of Hugh Hewitt's interview with Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz is posted at his site.
No commentary from Hugh yet on it, so I'll toss my hat in the ring with this.
First off, Dr. Wolfowitz shows himself to be extremely well tuned into the threat, discussing both the military aspects of victory as well as the ideological transformation and victory required to win the war. His comments on the ongoing changes in the military’s structure and decentralizing the authority to immediately engage terrorist were encouraging and show that while we’ve come along way in the reforms needed for this type of war, more is being done.
Another bright point, not about to receive much attention from the media, is the size of the electorate in Afghanistan and that it is 40% women.
Hugh asked about a leaked Rumsfield memo questioning the ability to measure, via metrics, our efforts toward victory. This portion of his reply bears repeating as often as possible:
” But I think what the secretary was getting at in that famous memo of his that unfortunately got leaked was that we also need to be about the business of persuading people, especially in the Muslim world where most of these terrorists are recruited from, that that's not the right alternative, that there's a better future for them, that there's a bright future here on earth. It is kind of sickening to read things like Zarqawi's letter or other publications by the terrorists where they express enormous contempt for people who love life and fear death.”
