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Might vs. Light

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photoThe war plan in Iraq is not only working, says Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Richard Meyers, but it is "brilliant." Second guessing the plan, says Meyers' boss and U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, is an exercise in "fiction."

Pulitzer prize-winning investigative reporter Seymour Hersh disagrees with Secretary Rumsfeld. In an article in the New Yorker, Hersh provides a blistering account of pre-war planning battles at the Pentagon that, he reports, left deep blood on the floor before the war even began.

According to Hersh, civilian boss Donald Rumsfeld demanded a light, fast deployment, and sneered at military brass who wanted more. Now, U.S. troops are undersupplied and exposed in the desert, while bitterness and anger seethes in Washington.

Click the "Listen" link above to hear more from investigative writer Seymour Hersh on the war at the Pentagon before the war in Iraq.

Guests:

Seymour M. Hersh, Contributor for The New Yorker

Andrew Bacevich, Director of the Center for International Relations at Boston University

John Diamond, Pentagon Correspondent for USA Today.

This program aired on April 1, 2003.

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