RUMMY: MORE TIME NEEDED

Rumsfeld: More Time Needed for WMD Search

Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld held out the possibility today that U.S. investigators would eventually find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and said he doubted the “theory” of a former chief weapons inspector that Iraq did not possess stockpiles of such weapons before U.S. forces invaded last year.

Interesting. While it’s not inconceivable that weapons will turn up–the “Saddam was duped by his minions” story still doesn’t make much sense to me–this seems an odd public position to take. So does this:

I suspect both will turn up on the late-night comedies.

Addressing the Senate Armed Services Committee for the first time since David Kay told the same panel last week that intelligence analysts were “almost all wrong” about banned weapons in Iraq, Rumsfeld defended President Bush’s decision to go to war in Iraq, and he denied that administration officials had manipulated the intelligence to justify the invasion.

But under Democratic questioning, he backed away from his assertion before the war that the administration knew former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein possessed banned weapons in the months leading up to the March 2003 invasion.

“Intelligence will never be perfect,” Rumsfeld said. “We do not, will not and cannot know everything that’s going on in this world of ours.” He added: “I’m convinced that the president of the United states did the right thing in Iraq; let there be no doubt.”

Those arguments are valid regardless of whether weapons are found.

FILED UNDER: Iraq War, , ,
James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. Rodney Dill says:

    Unknown to most Americans Donald Rumsfeld also had a neighbor called Mr. Wilson.

    Wait a minute, this isn’t a caption contest.

  2. Bithead says:

    Most Americans don’tr know it, but Rummy had a daughter that sung in the pop group, The Bangles.

    (pause to let that one sink in)

    Seriously… isn’t it odd that we keep diging stuff up?

    Like, for example:

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,110372,00.html

  3. Well dammit, I’m gonna MAKE it a caption contest, especially since my entry for Stephen’s on Howard was so lame. Are you ready? Here goes:

    “And then, Members of the Committee, as Luke lined up to drop his torpedo into the critical exhaust port, the evil Darth Vader dropped out of the stars in his TIE fighter, determined to thwart the Rebel plan……”

  4. Moe Lane says:

    “Fear my Righteous Boondoggle Funding Destroyer Kung Fu, Congressional Minions!”

  5. McGehee says:

    “Walk like an Egyptian? You walk like an Egyptian! I’m gonna sit like an Egyptian because my feet are killing me. Do you know how long it takes to walk from my office in the Pentagon to that freakin’ garage where they keep my limo? And you wiseguys keep calling me up here to answer stupid questions. If I want to answer stupid questions I’ll hold a goddam press conference. … Now, where was I?”