Oh, the shock.In front of an audience in New York, Mr Rumsfeld was asked about connections between Saddam and Osama Bin Laden. "To my knowledge, I have not seen any strong, hard evidence that links the two," he said.
Donald Rumsfeld's off-the-cuff comments are often very revealing.
If he really meant what he said, it suggests that the Bush administration is in the process of retreating from previously held positions.
When asked about the putative link during a session at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, defence secretary said: "I have seen the answer to that question migrate in the intelligence community over a period of a year in the most amazing way."
I'm guessing those serving over there have only the kindest of thoughts for Rumsfeld for saying this. No, really.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 4 October 2004 22:51 (twenty-one years ago)
Secretary Rumsfeld should travel with a drummer, just to do the rim shots after the punchlines.
― Aimless (Aimless), Monday, 4 October 2004 23:13 (twenty-one years ago)
Will this actually have any impact on the credibility of the Bush administration? It seems like people who dislike the administration will see this as confirmation that they are lying assholes and people who like the administration will see this as a counter to the charge that the administration is inflexible to the point of stupidity regardless of what the fact may be.
Also, is this an early indication that Rumsfeld doesn't expect to be around for administration #2?
― Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 02:04 (twenty-one years ago)
at this point, one should wonder what it would take for ANYbody to change their mind on who they're gunna vote for...
― Sir Kingfish Beavis D'Azzmonch (Kingfish), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 02:07 (twenty-one years ago)
And now Bremer has things to say:
Ambassador L. Paul Bremer, administrator for the U.S.-led occupation government until the handover of political power on June 28, said he still supports the decision to intervene in Iraq but said a lack of adequate forces hampered the occupation and efforts to end the looting early on.
___ Postwar Iraq ___
___ Latest News ___
•
Bush Has 5-Point Lead in New Poll
•
David Hare Sees How War Plays on World Stage
•
For Iraqi Girl, Reality Weighs Against Struggle for New Beliefs
• More Coverage
_____ U.S. Military Deaths _____
Faces of the Fallen
Portraits of U.S. service members who have died in Iraq since the beginning of the war.
_____Free E-mail Newsletters_____
• Today's Headlines & Columnists
See a Sample | Sign Up Now
• Daily Politics News & Analysis
See a Sample | Sign Up Now
• Federal Insider
See a Sample | Sign Up Now
• Breaking News Alerts
See a Sample | Sign Up Now
"We paid a big price for not stopping it because it established an atmosphere of lawlessness," he said yesterday in a speech at an insurance conference in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. "We never had enough troops on the ground."
Bremer's comments were striking because they echoed contentions of many administration critics, including Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry, who argue that the U.S. government failed to plan adequately to maintain security in Iraq after the invasion. Bremer has generally defended the U.S. approach in Iraq but in recent weeks has begun to criticize the administration for tactical and policy shortfalls.
In a Sept. 17 speech at DePauw University, Bremer said he frequently raised the issue within the administration and "should have been even more insistent" when his advice was spurned because the situation in Iraq might be different today. "The single most important change -- the one thing that would have improved the situation -- would have been having more troops in Iraq at the beginning and throughout" the occupation, Bremer said, according to the Banner-Graphic in Greencastle, Ind.
HMMMM.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 03:50 (twenty-one years ago)
Whoops, sorry about the extra garbage there!
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 03:51 (twenty-one years ago)
again, Rumsfeld lowballed the troop numbers b/c he wanted to prove Colin Powell wrong...
― Sir Kingfish Beavis D'Azzmonch (Kingfish), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 03:59 (twenty-one years ago)
"The turnover in the early days of a second-term is high, obviously, as first-termers exit and the president struggles to convince a new group of appointees that the second term will hold anything approaching the excitement of the first."???
If excitement is the goal, he couldn't do any better.
― Gold Teeth II (kenan), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 04:05 (twenty-one years ago)