Analysis of Public Statements made by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
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| The Bush Administration's Public Statements on Iraq |
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| Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on Urgent Threat: |
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| "Now, transport yourself forward a year, two years, or a week, or a month, and if Saddam Hussein were to take his weapons of mass destruction and transfer them, either use himself, or transfer them to the Al-Qaeda, and somehow the Al-Qaeda were to engage in an attack on the United States, or an attack on U.S. forces overseas, with a weapon of mass destruction you're not talking about 300, or 3,000 people potentially being killed, but 30,000, or 100,000 . . . human beings." |
| Source: Secretary Rumsfeld Live Interview with Infinity CBS Radio, Infinity-CBS Radio (11/14/2002). |
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Explanation This statement was misleading because, by evoking the specter of thousands of deaths in a time frame as short as "a week, or a month," it suggested that Iraq posed an urgent threat. The U.S. intelligence community, however, had deep divisions and divergent points of view regarding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. Further, according to the National Intelligence Estimate, the intelligence community had "low confidence" regarding whether Iraq would provide al Qaeda with weapons of mass destruction. | | |
| The Bush Administration's Public Statements on Iraq |
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| Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on Nuclear Capabilities: |
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| "And we know that he has an active program for the development of nuclear weapons." |
| Source: Secretary Rumsfeld Live Interview with Infinity CBS Radio, Infinity-CBS Radio (11/14/2002). |
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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 Bush Administration's Public Statements on Iraq |
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| Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on Nuclear Capabilities: |
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| "Second, they question . . . what is the proof that Iraq has nuclear weapons? Where's the smoking gun? . . . But if you think about it, the last thing we should want is a smoking gun. A gun doesn't smoke until it has been fired and the goal has to be to stop such an attack before it starts. As the President told the United Nations, 'The first time we may be completely certain that a terrorist has nuclear weapons is when, God forbid,' he said, 'they use one.'" |
| Source: Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, Defense Department (9/27/2002). |
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Explanation This statement was misleading because it starkly evoked a threat of Iraq detonating a nuclear bomb when the intelligence community was deeply divided regarding whether Saddam Hussein was divided on whether Iraq was actively pursuing its nuclear weapons program. | | |
| The Bush Administration's Public Statements on Iraq |
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| Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on Nuclear Capabilities: |
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| "His regime has an active program to acquire and develop nuclear weapons." |
| Source: Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, Defense Department (9/27/2002). |
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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 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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| "They have amassed large clandestine stockpiles of chemical weapons including VX and sarin and mustard gas." |
| Source: Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, Defense Department (9/27/2002). |
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Explanation This statement was misleading because it professed certainty when the intelligence community provided only an "estimate." According to CIA Director George Tenet, "it is important to underline the word estimate. Because not everything we analyze can be known to a standard of absolute proof." In addition, the statement failed to acknowledge the Defense Intelligence Agency position that: "There is no reliable information on whether Iraq is producing and stockpiling chemical weapons or where Iraq has -- or will -- establish its chemical warfare agent production facilities." | | |
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