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Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos
Is it a lie when someone says "I know this to be a fact" but they don't know it to be a fact?
I think Rumsfeld has been lying because the things he stated that were unequivocally fact were not fact and he knew it all along that questions remained.
He and George weren't saying "well maybe Iraq has a large stockpile of WMDs", the were saying "Iraq has a large stockpile of WMDs". They weren't saying "we have a hunch Saddam is connected to Osama and his friends" they were saying "he is connected to Osama and his friends, and September 11th taught us...".
Both those guys knew questions remained and none of this stuff absolute but they both said it was absolute. In other words, they were, you know, not telling the truth.
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I don't know if that is a lie, but I would give you that it's not honest.
On the first issue, WMD's, again....Iraq DID have a large stockpile of WMD's slated for UN destruction. The inspectors in charge of this activity were expelled from the country and when they returned whatever was left was nowhere to be found. So that is not a lie in my book.
On the second issue, Al Qaeda, I don't know that I've ever seen a legitimate quote of anyone in the administration that flat out suggests that there was a direct connection between Al Qaeda and the Iraqi government. I've said from the beginning that there was not one. Not that I doubt there was one, but that there was definitely NOT one. It is well documented that bin Laden has great disdain for Hussein's actions as the leader of Muslims in Iraq. There was no reason for the connection and in fact, its more reasonable to think that at some point Al Qaeda may have tried to get Hussein themseleves. So if the administration did make those claims directly then I would agree they were lying. I've yet to see it. And, no, the Prague meeting thing doesn't count since it did not come from US intelligence and was in fact discounted by US intelligence.
Your last paragraph is more than a little vague. Do I need to break out the infamous Rumsfeld quote about the unknowns we don't yet know?