Analysis of Public Statements made by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
This website contains a collection of misleading and inaccurate public statements made by the five Administration officials most responsible for providing public information and shaping public opinion on Iraq. This section covers statements made by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. You may also read the introduction or select a different person from the menu bar above.
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| The Bush Administration's Public Statements on Iraq |
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| Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on Al-Qaeda: |
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| "We said from the outset that there are several terrorist networks that have global reach and that there were several countries that were harboring terrorists that have global reach. We weren't going into Iraq when we were hit on September 11. And the question is: Well, what do you do about that? If you know there are terrorists and you know there's terrorist states -- Iraq's been a terrorist state for decades -- and you know there are countries harboring terrorists, we believe, correctly, I think, that the only way to deal with it is -- you can't just hunker down and hope they won't hit you again. You simply have to take the battle to them. And we have been consistently working on the Al Qaeda network. We've captured a large number of those folks -- captured or killed -- just as we've now captured or killed a large number of the top 55 Saddam Hussein loyalists." |
| Source: Meet the Press, NBC (11/2/2003). |
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Explanation This statement was misleading because by referencing the September 11 attacks in conjunction with discussion of the war on terror in Iraq, it left the impression that Iraq was connected to September 11. In fact, President Bush himself in September 2003 acknowledged that "We've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with September the 11th." | | |
| The Bush Administration's Public Statements on Iraq |
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| Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on Nuclear Capabilities: |
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| "We said they had a nuclear program. That was never any debate." |
| Source: This Week with George Stephanopoulos, ABC (7/13/2003). |
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Explanation This statement was false because there were deep divisions within the intelligence community on the issue of whether Iraq was actively pursuing its nuclear program. The statement also failed to mention weeks of intensive inspections conducted directly before the war in which United Nations inspectors found no sign whatsoever of any effort by Iraq to resume its nuclear program. | | |
| The Bush Administration's Public Statements on Iraq |
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| Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on Chemical and Biological Weapons: |
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| "Now people are saying, "Well, why haven't we found anything?" And I would respond by saying, A, it's going take some time, and B, we have found things. The CIA very recently, I believe, issued a declassified document on their website, where someone can actually go and find photographs and data that discusses these mobile laboratories, which are precisely what Secretary Powell talked about to the United Nations." |
| Source: Town Hall Meeting with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Infinity-CBS Radio (5/29/2003). |
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Explanation This statement was misleading because it claimed the purpose of the trailers was to produce biological weapons without disclosing that engineers from the Defense Intelligence Agency who examined the trailers concluded that they were most likely used to produce hydrogen for artillery weather balloons. | | |
| The Bush Administration's Public Statements on Iraq |
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| Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on Chemical and Biological Weapons: |
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| "And within the last week or two, they have in fact captured and have in custody two of the mobile trailers that Secretary Powell talked about at the United Nations as being biological weapons laboratories. We have people who are telling that they worked in these vehicles. And they look at panels and say, "That was my work station in that panel, and that's what it's for." |
| Source: Town Hall Meeting with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Infinity-CBS Radio (5/29/2003). |
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Explanation This statement was misleading because it claimed the purpose of the trailers was to produce biological weapons without disclosing that engineers from the Defense Intelligence Agency who examined the trailers concluded that they were most likely used to produce hydrogen for artillery weather balloons. | | |
| The Bush Administration's Public Statements on Iraq |
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| Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on Nuclear Capabilities: |
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| "We believed then, and we believe now, that the Iraqis . . . had a program to develop nuclear weapons, but did not have nuclear weapons. That is what the United Kingdom's intelligence suggested as well. We still believe that." |
| Source: Town Hall Meeting with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Infinity-CBS Radio (5/29/2003). |
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Explanation This statement was misleading because it failed to acknowledge the intelligence community's deep division on the issue of whether Iraq was actively pursuing its nuclear program. The statement also failed to mention that weeks of intensive inspections conducted directly before the war in which United Nations inspectors found no sign whatsoever of any effort by Iraq to resume its nuclear program. | | |
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