CIA had concluded that there is no evidence of link between Al-Qaeda and Iraq. This obviously does not sit well with the war-hungry Rumsfield. He now ordered Pentagon to go over all the intelligence to see what might CIA have missed, and to carefully find out what is the link between Al Qaida and Saddam. Team Assigned to Scour Data for Overlooked Terrorist Links
The Pentagon has assigned a high-level team to sort through mountains of intelligence data for links between terrorists and countries like Iraq that other agencies may have overlooked.
And here this newspaper reports that: Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld ordered the team to search for information which may have been overlooked that could help show Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s intentions and his links to terrorism, one senior defense official said.
He appears to be searching for links between Iraq and 9/11. A sort of causus belli exists for the US to "deal" with saddam, but Rumsfeld wants intelligence made to order.
Recently in the IHT there was an article that described Rumsfeld as an ogre on the rampage. He has annoyed almost all of the top brass in the Pentagon. His own men, the ones he brought in to re-structure the US military have felt chocked and extremely dissatisfied with the way Rumsfeld works with an inner group that is always right and dismisses the opinions of high ranking military officials as sewerage.
Over all within the American populace and its point of view, Rumsfeld is seen as a power hungry war mongeral. Powell has been completely sidelined. You dont hear of him anymore. Its like he never got the job of FM.