Newt Gingrich recommended in a 2003 memo to then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that he “both maximize DoD’s influence on debates and to maximize the flow of information to DoD” by establishing “a system of DoD detailees throughout the federal government and where possible as overseas detached personnel for foreign governments.”
Gingrich wanted the Defense Department to have more reach in the policy making apparatus and not “yield the territory” at the National Security Counsel and elsewhere to the State Department and other interests.
“There should be a conscious systematic strategy for sending good people to every point in the federal government and to as many contacts with foreign governments as possible,” Gingrich wrote.
“This requires carrying extra officers and senior ncos on the rolls but in the long run it will pay a tremendous dividend in communicating the defense system’s views, values, and practices,” he said.
Gingrich’s recommendation came in a June 2003 memo to Rumsfeld that the former Defense Secretary forwarded along to his aide Larry DiRita without much comment. The document was disclosed by Rumsfeld in a database accompanying his recently published memoir.
Here’s the full passage:
The seventh strategic necessity is to establish a system of DoD detailees throughout the federal government and where possible as overseas detached personnel for foreign governments to both maximize DoD’s influence on debates and to maximize the flow of information to DoD.It has been a significant mistake to yield the territory at NSC and elsewhere to the State Department and other interests. The result has been much more limited reach by the Defense system into the policy making apparatus.
What is really needed is the opposite approach.
There should be a conscious systematic strategy for sending good people to every point in the federal government and to as many contacts with foreign governments as possible.
This requires carrying extra officers and senior ncos on the rolls but in the long run it will pay a tremendous dividend in communicating the defense system’s views, values, and practices.
Ryan J. Reilly
Ryan J. Reilly is a D.C.-based reporter for TPM. Prior to joining TPM, he worked for a news website covering the Justice Department and was a researcher for Bloomberg News. His email address is ryan(at)talkingpointsmemo.com.
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