Bush chooses Cold War veteran for defence job

WASHINGTON - In a surprise move, President-elect George W. Bush has nominated Donald Rumsfeld, a Defence Secretary during the Cold War, to return to the post to carry out Bush's plans to renew the United States military for the 21st Century.

"This is a man who has got great judgment, he has got strong vision, and he's going to be a great Secretary of Defence, again," Bush said.

Bush has now chosen eight of his preferred cabinet, a group he said would be politically and ethnically diverse. All will have to be confirmed by the Senate.

Bush said he hoped to have his cabinet complete next week.

The President-elect will be sworn in on January 20.

Rumsfeld's choice came as a surprise to most observers. He had been regarded as a possible choice for CIA director, but the Pentagon post may reflect difficulties in finding a defence secretary who can work in the shadows of Secretary of State-designate Colin Powell and Vice-President-elect Dick Cheney.

Bush said Rumsfeld would be part of a "very strong" team that also included his choice of national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice.

Rumsfeld served as a security adviser to Bush, helping devise his military reform goals outlined in 1999.

He also headed a missile defence commission whose 1998 report is claimed by Bush to bolster his case for deploying a missile defence system hotly opposed by Russia.



Rumsfeld would be charged with overhauling the military to take advantage of new technologies, he said. "One of Secretary Rumsfeld's first tasks will be to challenge the status quo inside the Pentagon, to develop a strategy necessary to have a force equipped for warfare of the 21st Century."

Rumsfeld, asked whether he would revisit the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding gays in the military, said "certainly other areas are priorities for me."

The 68-year-old served as White House Chief of Staff for President Ford in 1974 and 1975 before serving as Secretary of Defence, the youngest in history, from 1975 to 1977.

He said he looked forward to a second tour of duty as Pentagon chief.

"I have been doing a number of things with respect to national security and foreign policy issues in the intervening years and I look forward to it, I really do.

"It's a fine institution and a wonderful group of people."

- REUTERS

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