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Leaning Forward in a 'Dangerous and Untidy' World

His eyes narrow, his voice turns icy and low, and from his Air Force jet somewhere over the Atlantic, Rumsfeld issues another warning to Saddam Hussein.

"You can be absolutely certain we'll not allow our aircraft to continue to be shot at with impunity," Rumsfeld says, referring to another spate of Iraqi groundfire against US and British planes patrolling no-fly zones. He straightens his beige flight jacket. "We intend to respond."

Since emerging as a spirited war secretary in the wake of Sept. 11, Rumsfeld has made it clear that America is "leaning forward" - ready and willing to use force to defend US interests even if it means risking American lives. His newly unveiled "Guidelines" nudge the US toward a more robust military posture, shifting away from more cautious doctrines set down in 1984 by Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and reaffirmed in the 1990s by Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Colin Powell.

Even before taking the Pentagon job, Rumsfeld told Mr. Bush he worried that a perception of the US as casualty-averse was emboldening enemies. He won Bush's assurance that the next time force was required, the US military would, essentially, set the record straight.

Today, Rumsfeld is managing a growing presence of US troops in hot spots around the world - from Afghanistan to the Gulf states and the Horn of Africa. He says the approach is getting results. America's willingness to battle the Taliban and Al Qaeda was a crucial factor in mobilizing what is now a 90-nation coalition against terrorism, he asserts. Similarly with Iraq, he says: Lacking the threat of a US-led invasion, Baghdad would never have readmitted UN inspectors to search for weapons. "The reason that Iraq is now allowing inspectors in is because of the very visible threat of the use of force," he says. "Prior to that, they weren't willing to let anyone do anything."

The Weinberger-Powell approach aimed to prevent actions that could squander US lives - and was heavily influenced by Vietnam and the death of 241 Marines in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1983. Washington, they advised, should deploy US troops only as a last resort. With clear goals and firm support, Washington should then use overwhelming force to bring fighting to a swift end.

When Rumsfeld released his own guidelines for committing US forces in October - the first made public by a Defense secretary since the Reagan administration - he stressed that the risk of action must be weighed not in isolation, but against the "risk of inaction."

He cautions against risking lives except for "a darn good reason," but adds this advice to leaders who deem the use of force necessary: Acknowledge upfront the risk of casualties "rather than allowing the public to believe an engagement can be executed antiseptically, on the cheap."

Military action, once approved, should be early, forceful, and free from arbitrary deadlines or restrictions. Nor should military goals be compromised to win international support - an attitude that's rankled US allies and drawn fire from critics as unilateralist. His mantra: "The mission determines the coalition."

Rumsfeld's calls for a strong, unfettered military reflect his view of the world as a "dangerous and untidy" place, an impression that likely began in his wartime childhood.

Rumsfeld was nine years old when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. His father, who had risen from an office boy to become a successful real estate agent, left home to serve as a Naval officer in the Pacific. Intensely proud of his father's example, Rumsfeld joined the Navy ROTC in college and after graduation in 1954 he served three years as a Naval aviator and flight instructor. He often rekindles images of his father's enemies when describing the new array of threats America faces today.

"In World War II ... there were suicide pilots flying their aircraft into our ships," he told guests to the Lone Sailor Award dinner in May. "Today, a new enemy is seeking global power and has flown our own airliners into our buildings on suicide missions," he said. "They're working ... to gain access to weapons of mass destruction."

Over and over, Rumsfeld warns of the risk that terrorists will obtain chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons and "kill [not] a few hundred or a few thousand, but tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands."

Failing a regime change in Baghdad, he asserts, the nexus of terror and weapons of mass destruction is most dangerous in Iraq. Rumsfeld, who as a Middle East envoy met Hussein in 1983, calls him a "brutal, repressive dictator" and a master at manipulating world opinion.

His solution: Beat Hussein at his own game.

'The Sky Is Going to Fall!' - Managing Public Opinion

A press aide saunters to the back of Rumsfeld's plane after it rumbles down a runway in Santiago, and hands a reporter a copy of a Chilean article, highlighted in yellow.

"Read this, and then he'll [Rumsfeld] come talk to you," the aide says. Fluent in Spanish, the reporter translates aloud the first few lines, which sing Rumsfeld's praises.

"See!" Rumsfeld grins mischievously when he appears a few minutes later, waving the article. "It says I have a human side! I've only been here a day and they know me better than you do!"

Joking and sparring with the media is something this Defense secretary relishes more than most - but the friendly banter also has a clear strategic purpose.

Serving up deft put-downs and repartees peppered with homespun exclamations like "golly" and "dadburned," Rumsfeld has emerged as the administration's most skilled and televised voice for the war on terror.

Virtually overnight, Rumsfeld - with his rimless glasses, piercing look, and blunt use of the verb "kill" - became the public face of the war. It's a role he'll likely repeat if the US attacks Iraq - and how he handles it could shape American and world perceptions of the conflict. In the front-and-center job, he'll follow his own advice: "Invest the political capital to marshal support to sustain the effort for whatever period of time may be required."

The role reflects one of Rumsfeld's most firmly held beliefs about democracy: the idea that a well-informed public - the "educated citizens" of Adlai Stevenson's 1954 Princeton address - will find its way to the right decisions.

In a little-known act as a young congressman in 1966, Rumsfeld embraced Stevenson's "magnificent gamble" in a speech on the House floor, urging passage of the Freedom of Information Act. " 'A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy, or perhaps both,' " Rumsfeld said, quoting James Madison.

Still, the Pentagon is far from a bastion of openness under Rumsfeld, who is as good at selectively withholding information as he is at managing his message.

He's drawn criticism for secretiveness and a strenuous effort to control the flow of information from his Pentagon podium. Leaks on Iraq-invasion scenarios in recent months infuriated him, and in August he ordered the FBI to investigate. But underlying his domineering style is a fierce patriotic bent as well as a desire to have the nation trust its leaders to do the job.

On some of the most sensitive topics arising in the war - military commissions and the treatment of detainees, civilian casualties, and the ill-fated Office of Strategic Influence (OSI) - Rumsfeld has welcomed informed debate, but dismissed much outcry over civil liberties as alarmist.

"Oh my goodness gracious, isn't that terrible, Henny Penny, the sky is going to fall!" he said en route to Chile in November, mimicking what he considered to be inflammatory editorials and cartoons related to the alleged disinformation plans of OSI, the short-lived office for shaping opinion that he shut down in February.

"I said ... if you want to savage this thing, fine, I'll give you the corpse." But, he added defiantly, "I'm gonna keep doing everything that needs to be done, and I have."

Rumsfeld likewise brushes aside concerns about a planned Pentagon computer surveillance system, designed to mine data around the world. The media should have more trust in government, he suggests. "Anyone with any concern ought to be able to sleep well tonight," he says in a fatherly tone. "Nothing terrible is going to happen."

And when all else fails, Rumsfeld has perfected another signature technique: the ability to keep mum - and deflect criticism - while getting the media to laugh about it.

A typical exchange goes like this one Nov. 14:

Reporter: Mr. Secretary, is bin Laden alive or dead apparently, now? And if he is alive, is the United States winning the war on terrorism?

Rumsfeld: Charlie, the answer to the question, 'Is he alive or dead' - the answer is, 'Yes, he is alive or dead.'

(Laughter.)

Rumsfeld: Thank you very much!

SCOTT WALLACE - STAFF