Medal Work: Casting Two Wars Into One

In the first of his declarations of unflagging support for Donald Rumsfeld, President Bush last week cited the secretary of defense's work "during two wars." Given that Rummy's last stint at the Pentagon's helm occurred in 1975-77, when peace briefly broke out, we took those two wars to mean Afghanistan and Iraq.

Nope. According to the Pentagon, you technically can't call them wars. As some troops have discovered to their dismay, you can serve in both Afghanistan and Iraq and end up with a medal recognizing just one war. It's known in military-speak as the GWOT (rhymes with "fought") medal, for the Global War on Terrorism -- created to recognize a war that "includes many diverse campaigns," as Pentagon spokesman Jim Turner told us in a statement. "The GWOT medals tie today's global war to yesterday's global war, i.e. WWII. We are fighting across the globe and shall be for a long time. When a WWII veteran looks at a current military member, they will share an equality of awards. "

Historians may point to separate decorations awarded in the European and Pacific theaters of World War II, but the brass isn't budging. At a Pentagon news conference in January, a reporter even wondered whether a "political agenda" might lurk behind a medal lumping Operation Iraqi Freedom with the battle against al Qaeda and other Islamic extremists worldwide.

"Not that I can even imagine, no," Rumsfeld said. "This department is not involved with politics."

Defending Rumsfeld against impolitic critics who want his scalp over abuses of Iraqi prisoners, Bush said yesterday, "You are courageously leading our nation in the war against terror."

Note: That's war, singular.

The Secret's Out: NSA Honors David Kahn

• When "The Codebreakers" was published in 1967, the National Security Agency, which figured prominently in David Kahn's 1,000-page history of secret communications, was so paranoid about publicity that it issued an agency-wide order that no NSA employee was to acknowledge the existence of the book, no matter how many copies were sold. Officials at the eavesdropping outfit (which used to bear the nickname "No Such Agency") say things have loosened up since then -- and it's happy to have publicity of the right kind.

Author David Kahn was cited for his service to the cryptologic community by the agency formerly known as No Such Agency.

Indeed, the NSA honored Kahn, 74, Saturday at a dinner for 35 friends and spy types at the Cosmos Club, where he got an NSA medal recognizing his "dedication and unsurpassed service to the cryptologic community." The agency's director of public affairs, Judith Emmel, told the black-tie gathering: "If it hadn't been for him, I wouldn't have a job."

We gleaned this unclassified info from our spy at the event, The Post's Ken Ringle. But when we called the NSA public affairs office yesterday to confirm some details, a cone of silence worthy of TV spy Maxwell Smart descended. In fact, we can't tell you any of the utterly innocuous information the agency wouldn't tell us: A spokesman put every word he said off the record.

"Oh, jeez. They are incredibly uptight," Kahn told us with a sigh yesterday from his home in Great Neck, N.Y. Being good bureaucrats, "they're scared, or something like that."

The party coincided with publication of Kahn's latest book, "The Reader of Gentlemen's Mail," a biography of Herbert O. Yardley, America's first codebreaker. Kahn has donated his collection of papers, books and cipher machines to the foundation that runs that National Cryptologic Museum near the NSA in Fort Meade. "I get along with them fine," said the former Newsday reporter, but he endorses less secrecy: "It's good to needle them this way. They need it."

• Vince Vaughn, starring in "The Wedding Crashers," a comedy in production hereabouts, had one last hurrah before leaving Washington to continue filming in Talbot County and other places on Maryland's Eastern Shore. On Sunday, Vaughn, director David Dobkin and producer Andrew Panay received a West Wing tour and shook hands with President Bush. A spokesman for the film told us Vaughn "enjoyed it and was very honored to meet the president and be at the White House." Co-star Owen Wilson didn't attend because of "scheduling reasons," the rep said.

• Rhinestone cowboy Glen Campbell yesterday pleaded guilty to "extreme" drunken driving and leaving the scene of an accident after a November crash near his Phoenix home. The 68-year-old singer is scheduled to be sentenced June 14. Under the plea bargain, he would serve 10 days in jail, be eligible for work furlough after 48 hours, and perform 75 hours of community service. Campbell had sober words for reporters outside the courthouse: "Don't drink and drive," he said. "Don't drink, period. I don't think it's good for you."

• Al Gore has joined MoveOn.org's PR blitz over an upcoming disaster flick, "The Day After Tomorrow," which depicts a heroic climatologist and the perils of global warming. Gore, who authored the cautionary enviro-primer "Earth in the Balance" in 1992, will hold a conference call with reporters today to talk about the issue, the progressive group said.

With Ann Schroeder