The Fog of Email
Michael Yon posts an email exchange General Barry McCaffrey, and Lawrence Di Rita (former Chief of Staff for x-Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld) about whether Rumsfeld is being unfairly maligned in various quarters. The exchange is interesting on a few levels.
DiRita's email includes this bit at the end (capitalization in original):
about a year ago i had an email exchange with joe galloway that i– stupidly, it turns out — assumed was a discussion between two people. joe was playing for the galleries, though, and released our exchange through various blogs. i had no problem with anythingMcCaffrey's response includes this at the bottom:
anything i said, but thought it was pretty unsporting of joe to have done what he did. i mention only because i do not intend to distribute this email, or any response you may care to offer, and i suppose i should have stipulated that with galloway, too!
Would also suggest that your very pointed and uncivil emails—such as the one to Joe Galloway and now me—which defend his disastrous tenure… are very much part of the public record and debate.From a common sense perspective, you obtain the agreement of your correspondent before putting anything not intended for general circulation in an email. DiRita's faux culpa is sure an odd - and it turns out ineffective - way of doing that. As Michael Yon says, "the fog of email" . . . I guess.Appreciate the chance to respond to your views. Best wishes.
Barry McCaffrey
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