Rumsfeld's Snow Jobs

While he was running the Pentagon, Rumsfeld flooded people with 20-60 memos a day (so many they were nicknamed "Snowflakes"). Today's WaPo has a story featuring a number of those. Here's a few of Rumsfeld's "thoughts" for staff.

• Muslims avoid "physical labor"
• "keep elevating the threat"
• "link Iraq to Iran"
• develop "bumper sticker statements" to rally public support
• "our publics risk falling prey to the argument that all is lost" -- simply result from the wrong standards being applied
• "Talk about Somalia, the Philippines, etc. Make the American people realize they are surrounded in the world by violent extremists"
• People will "rally" to sacrifice, he noted after the meeting. "They are looking for leadership. Sacrifice = Victory."
• needed a team to help him "go out and push people back, rather than simply defending" Iraq policy and strategy
• advised aides "to test what the results could be" if the war on terrorism were renamed
• Neither Europe nor the United Nations understands the threat or the bigger picture