Rumsfeld paves way for top-level shake up

WASHINGTON -- By firing the civilian chief of the Army, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has set the stage for across-the-board leadership changes in the military's largest service.

Rumsfeld soon will pick successors to Army Secretary Thomas White as well as the Army's two highest-ranking officers -- Gen. Eric Shinseki, the chief of staff, and Gen. John Keane, the vice chief of staff. The choices are subject to White House approval and Senate confirmation.

These changes, plus many others in the offing elsewhere in the military, come at a time of peak power in the Pentagon for Rumsfeld. Battlefield successes in Afghanistan and Iraq appear to have validated his ideas on transforming the armed forces for 21st-century warfare.

The defense secretary has had strained relations with the Army for more than a year. His assertive style led some Army leaders to feel he was micromanaging their path to modernization.

For his part, Rumsfeld seems to be leveraging a newly enhanced stature to press for change.

Rumsfeld, who left Saturday for a visit to the Persian Gulf, apparently will use the trip to feel out candidates for the Army chief of staff job. Among them are Gen. Tommy Franks, the top Iraq war commander; Franks' deputy, Lt. Gen. John Abizaid; the commander of coalition land forces in Iraq, Lt. Gen. David McKiernan, and the Army commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. William Wallace.

Difficult relationship

Rumsfeld on Friday fired White, the Army's top civilian official since May 2001. White was a White House pick and had a sometimes difficult relationship with Rumsfeld. He was close to Secretary of State Colin Powell, who has had policy disputes with Rumsfeld.

White made no public comment on his firing.

In a brief statement Friday announcing that White had submitted his resignation, Rumsfeld thanked White for his "long and able service to the country," which included a distinguished Army career that ended in 1990. White is a Vietnam veteran and retired as a one-star general.

Rumsfeld said White's departure date had not been determined.

The Army secretary is a political appointee for the White House, although Rumsfeld will influence the pick of White's successor. Rumsfeld has more direct power to choose the top uniformed Army leaders. Both the civilian and military slots are subject to confirmation by the Senate.

White, 59, became engaged in a public dispute with Rumsfeld last year over the defense secretary's proposal to cancel the Crusader artillery project, which White said was vital to the Army's future. Rumsfeld decided it was not suited for wars of the future and canceled the program.

Rumsfeld was angry that the Army's Office of Legislative Affairs had sought to fight the planned cancellation by preparing talking points for members of Congress to lobby for Crusader. When that became public, it appeared White was in danger of losing his job, but he stayed on.

White also was hurt by controversy over his former role as an executive with Enron Corp., the scandal-ridden energy trading company.

As for Shinseki, the Army chief of staff who was appointed to that post by former Defense Secretary William Cohen four years ago, Rumsfeld's office let it be known months ago that he was out of favor.

Tensions over Shinseki peaked again this spring when he told Congress that it might take several hundred thousand soldiers in postwar Iraq to keep the peace. That conflicted sharply with the estimates of Rumsfeld's people, who believe it will take far fewer peacekeeping forces.

Shinseki is due to complete his term in June, as is Keane, the vice chief of staff.

A year ago Rumsfeld's office let it be known that he intended to name Keane as Shinseki's successor. But in recent days Keane has told Rumsfeld he will retire instead, according to several Army officials.

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