Delusional, of Self and Others 0

Saying it don’t make it so, Donnie boy (emphasis added):

Rumsfeld, who testified alongside Abizaid and Pace, did not comment directly on the prospect of civil war but said Iraq’s future lay in the hands of Iraqis, beginning with a reconciliation process that has yet to get under way.

“Ultimately the sectarian violence is going to be dealt with by Iraqis,” Rumsfeld said.

And under tough questioning by Sen. Hillary Clinton about previous appearances before the committee, he denied that he had ever “painted a rosy picture” of the situation in Iraq.

Hmmmm.

How about these, just to pick a few?

I can’t tell you if the use of force in Iraq today will last five days, five weeks or five months, but it won’t last any longer than that.

I don’t do quagmires.

“Well, the Office of Management and Budget, has come up come up with a number that’s something under $50 billion for the cost. How much of that would be the U.S. burden, and how much would be other countries, is an open question.”

And a whole litany here.

Here’s how Dana Priest described the Clinton-Rumsfeld moment in her chat today:

San Francisco, Calif.: Good day, Ms. Priest, have you seen any of the “grilling” our Secretary of Defense is getting on Capitol Hill today, particularly from Senator Hillary Clinton? Mashup your national security expertise with purely political calculus for a moment, and please tell us if you think the Lamont challenge is figuring into Clinton’s stronger tone with the Secretary.

Rumsfeld responded, “My goodness!” initially to Hillary’s question.

Dana Priest: Yes. This was a riveting moment between Clinton and Rumsfeld. The room was quiet and still. She read through a damning litany of charges–charges which have been substantiated in our newspaper and elsewhere repeatedly so they weren’t off the wall at all. And his comeback was equally as awesome–starting with a quiet My Goodness (read: you’ve certainly overdone it now lady) and an eloquent defense, which included a rewriting of history (the Iraqi Army disbanded itself, “I don’t know who said what about the Taliban” being gone from Afghanistan).

What a moment!

My, the lies do get tiresome after a while.

When I can get a transcript of the question, I’ll append it to this post.

Update, 8/4/2006:

Here’s a link to a transcript of the exchange, in which Rumsfeld actually says, “The idea that the army was disbanded I think is one that’s kind of flying around. My impression is that, to a great extent, that army disbanded itself,” and “I don’t know who said what about where the Taliban had gone, but in fact the Taliban that were running Afghanistan and ruling Afghanistan were replaced. . . . Are there still Taliban around? You bet.” (Follow the links to see the duplicity documented.)

Here’s a link to the Senator’s list of Happy Rummy Remarks. It’s longer than mine, but I don’t have a staff.

(aside) I wonder whether these folks realize that their statements are news and get recorded and written down. Or are they just convinced that, if they repeat the lie often enough, people will believe it.*

*See table 4B, item 2, at the link.

Update, 8/4/2006: Dick Polman’s take on Rosy Rummy.