Rumsfeld Clears Things Up

[andyfox]

Everytime someone in the administration talks about the fugitive WMDs, the president goes down in the polls. I'm no Karl Rove, but they should shut up about the WMDs and put out something every day about Hussein's cruelty. I m ean, it's now to the point where the president is trailing a botoxed New Englander with the personality of a tree and the charisma of a deck of cards.

Alas, up steps Don Rumsfeld to the rescue:

Rumsfeld offered several examples of what he called "alternative views" about why no weapons have been discovered in Iraq, starting with the possibility that banned arms never existed.

"I suppose that's possible, but not likely," he said.

Other possibilities cited by Rumsfeld:

- Weapons may have been transferred to a third country before U.S. troops arrived in March.

- Weapons may have been dispersed throughout Iraq and hidden.

- Weapons existed but were destroyed by the Iraqis before the war started.

Or, Rumsfeld postulated, "small quantities" of chemical or biological agents may have existed, along with a "surge capability" that would allow Iraq to rapidly build an arsenal of banned weapons. Commenting on that possibility, Rumsfeld said, "We may eventually find it in the months ahead."

Lastly, he offered the possibility that the issue of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction "may have been a charade" orchestrated by the Iraqi government. It is even possible, he said, that Saddam was "tricked" by his own people into believing he had banned weapons that did not exist.

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and other Democrats on the committee reminded Rumsfeld that in September 2002 he said "we know" where weapons of mass destruction are stored in Iraq.

Explaining that remark, Rumsfeld told the panel that he was referring to suspected weapons sites, but he acknowledged that he had made it sound like he was talking about actual weapons.

The remark "probably turned out not to be what one would have preferred, in retrospect," he said.

A charade orchestrated by Hussein in order to get himself overthrown and arrested. A "surge capability" involving WMDs.

One hopes that these remarks probably turn out not to be what one would have preferred, in retrospect.