US ‘unable to fight war on terror’

THE American military machine is not geared to fighting the war on terror and has not made “truly bold moves” against al-Qaida, according to a leaked memo by US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Mr Rumsfeld suggested a "new institution" might be needed to fight terrorism because "it is not possible" to transform his department for this purpose.

The memo to senior Pentagon and military officials added: "It is pretty clear that the coalition can win in Afghanistan and Iraq in one way or another, but it will be a long, hard slog."

Mr Rumsfeld wrote on October 16: "DoD (Department of Defence) has been organised, trained and equipped to fight big armies, navies and air forces.

"It is not possible to change DoD fast enough to successfully fight the global war on terror; an alternative might be to try to fashion a new institution, either within DoD or elsewhere one that seamlessly focuses the capabilities of several departments and agencies on this key problem."

He said America was having "mixed results" in combating al-Qaida.

There had been "reasonable progress" in capturing or killing the 55 most wanted Iraqi leadership figures but there had been "somewhat slower progress tracking down the Taliban" and the US was "just getting started" in tackling Iraqi terror group Ansar Al-Islam.

He wrote: "Does DoD need to think through new ways to organise, train, equip and focus to deal with the global war on terror?

"My impression is that we have not yet made truly bold moves, although we have made many sensible, logical moves in the right direction, but are they enough?" the memo asked.