B
Bruzilla
Guest
Yeah, I know he'll probably be too old, but after watching his performances on Meet the Press and This Week on Sunday I think this guy is just awesome!!! I've never seen a political type take George Stephanopolous and Tim Russert to task like that before. I loved it when he had them put their quote slides back up on the screen so he could disect their allegations one by one. It was just perfect.
For those of you who missed it here are some high points:
Both reporters challenged Rumsfeld on how he had under-estimated the costs of the war and occupation. Rumsfeld told both of them that they had never said how much it would cost because they have never known how much it would cost since there were too many variables, and he had learned from reviewing lessons-learned from Bosnia, Panama, etc., that initial estimates are always wrong. So his opinion was that it's better to be honest and say "we don't know" than to offer a swag that you know is going to be wrong. When both reporters countered with how he had said it was costing 1.9 billion per month earlier and now was saying 3.4 billion, he told them that when he was asked way back when how much the war would cost, he said he didn't know how much the total cost would be. When asked what the "current" burn rate was he told them 1.9 billion, which was correct at the time he was asked. The current burn rate is 3.4 billion, and this will change up or down as events unfold.
Both reporters pointed out how some general had testified that it may take "some several hundred thousand troops" to stabilize Iraq, and how wrong Rumsfeld had been by saying that comment was wrong at the time because there were now 147,000 troops in Irag. Rumsfeld asked how 147,000 troops equates to "several hundred thousand troops?" The reporters couldn't wait to move on to the next subject.
Rumsfeld also addressed the Liar Liar Pants on Fire issue that the Democrats are pushing, and quashed that deal also. Then George asked him about this poll and that poll, and Rumsfeld said "Leaders lead... they don't worry about polls." I loved it!
It was so nice to hear someone from the administration come on a show and speak the truth and tell it like it is. No wishy-washy answers... no playing to the hosts... no trying to spin. Just here's whats's going on and this is why we did it that way
For those of you who missed it here are some high points:
Both reporters challenged Rumsfeld on how he had under-estimated the costs of the war and occupation. Rumsfeld told both of them that they had never said how much it would cost because they have never known how much it would cost since there were too many variables, and he had learned from reviewing lessons-learned from Bosnia, Panama, etc., that initial estimates are always wrong. So his opinion was that it's better to be honest and say "we don't know" than to offer a swag that you know is going to be wrong. When both reporters countered with how he had said it was costing 1.9 billion per month earlier and now was saying 3.4 billion, he told them that when he was asked way back when how much the war would cost, he said he didn't know how much the total cost would be. When asked what the "current" burn rate was he told them 1.9 billion, which was correct at the time he was asked. The current burn rate is 3.4 billion, and this will change up or down as events unfold.
Both reporters pointed out how some general had testified that it may take "some several hundred thousand troops" to stabilize Iraq, and how wrong Rumsfeld had been by saying that comment was wrong at the time because there were now 147,000 troops in Irag. Rumsfeld asked how 147,000 troops equates to "several hundred thousand troops?" The reporters couldn't wait to move on to the next subject.
Rumsfeld also addressed the Liar Liar Pants on Fire issue that the Democrats are pushing, and quashed that deal also. Then George asked him about this poll and that poll, and Rumsfeld said "Leaders lead... they don't worry about polls." I loved it!
It was so nice to hear someone from the administration come on a show and speak the truth and tell it like it is. No wishy-washy answers... no playing to the hosts... no trying to spin. Just here's whats's going on and this is why we did it that way
)
