true confessions

[David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

> From the May issue of Armed Forces Journal Interantional:


Dr William J. Perry, speaking to a dinner audience in Wash DC, last
March, said that during his first 5 weeks as Sec Def, " I've had eight
hearings with the Congress, and at those hearings I was berated for
closing too many bases, I was berated for not closing enough bases, I was
berated for spending too much money, I was berated for not spending
enough money fast enough, I was berated for a defective financial
management system and for a screwed up acquisition system; all of which
are true.  He added, "As I was sitting there at the hearings, I felt like
the drunk who was hauled out of a burning bed by a fireman, and
subsequently arrested for arson and drunken-ness.  After he sobered up,
they hauled him before a judge and he said, "Your honor I admit to being
drunk, but the bed was on fire when I got into it.  He then added Well I
swear that the Sec Def's bed was on fire when I got into it!  And I also
admit to being drunk when I accepted the job......