Rumsfeld Is Back

Donald Rumsfeld takes a break from his retirement today to offerstrategic advice to the president-elect. Rumsfeld says that Obama'sproposed troop "surge" in Afghanistan cannot merely replicate theIraqi version (which, Rumsfeld says, he did not oppose—contrary tomany reports). "Additional troops in Afghanistan may be necessary, butthey will not, by themselves, be sufficient to lead to the results wesaw in Iraq," Rumsfeld writes. "A similar confluence of events thatcontributed to success in Iraq does not appear to exist inAfghanistan." Rumsfeld proposes an "Afghan surge," with the AfghanNational Army backed by coalition forces. He also cautions againstnegotiating with the Taliban: "offering the hand of peace to hardenedfanatics is not likely to prove successful."