Rumsfeld charms the media while defending censorship Defence secretary unapologetic in speech to newspaper editors
Toronto Star
April 11, 2002
By William WalkerAt turns charming and unrepentant, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld put his straight-shooting ways on display yesterday before an audience with enormous power to shape public opinion.
Rumsfeld admitted he's "weird," in that he "likes the press." At the same time, he's adamant about favouring censorship of press coverage of the war against terrorism and threatening to jail Pentagon staffers who leak classified information to the media.
Those were the messages a relaxed Rumsfeld delivered to the annual meeting of the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE), the largest gathering of high-powered print executives from across North America.
The man who, for six months now, has delivered some of the most entertaining media briefings in Washington - earning him a cult following and status as "sex symbol to the over-70 set" - admitted he didn't even bother to prepare for his hour-long appearance despite the influential audience.
Rumsfeld, 69, has emerged as a media darling - he was chosen "Person of the Week" by Time magazine this week - with his straight talk, even though the Pentagon has restricted information and press access to the war's front lines in Afghanistan.
In one case, a U.S. soldier pointed his gun at a Washington Post reporter to persuade the journalist to leave one area of Afghanistan.
The defence secretary had no complaints about media coverage of the war, but did lament that American mistakes in inadvertently killing civilians with off-target bombs often receive 20 times the coverage of U.S. humanitarian efforts.
"Anything that is against the U.S. or against civilians is big news and it gets on the front page," he said, admitting the Pentagon needs to do "a better job" at getting its own message out.
Rumsfeld also denied restricting reporters' access to the war's front lines. "Anyone who wanted to go could go, so they should just go. But a lot of them went and they got killed. It's not a tidy place," he said.
Rumsfeld was unrepentant about how U.S. soldiers in the field have censored some media reports.
The Star's correspondent Mitch Potter was kicked out of a U.S. base in Afghanistan for reporting facts the Pentagon deemed to be against the rules.
The defence secretary said he still favours such censorship to keep American troops safe, but admitted sometimes soldiers will make mistakes, since "they were trained to fire rifles and fly aircraft, not to censor."
Rumsfeld said he stood by his recent statement that anyone who leaks classified information at the Pentagon, or elsewhere, is breaking the law.
Asked about leaks ("I'm against them," he said), Rumsfeld was told his earlier statements about laws being broken had caused a "chilling" around the Pentagon, with officials unwilling to speak with journalists for some time after his comments.
"Well, I'd better go back down there (to the Pentagon)," he told the ASNE delegates. "If what you're saying is that people who leaked are afraid to do so now, then God bless the chilling. Look, when a person takes classified information and gives it to someone not cleared for classified information, they are violating federal law and they should go to jail. It's quite clear. They're also putting people's lives at risk, which is a terrible thing to do."