Rumsfeld: I have never painted a rosy picture

the donald

Posted by ro @ 2:46 pm in the news | www.rosie.com

Rumsfeld and Iraq

Author: Candace Gorman | pickup from Rosie O’Donnell blog

“I have never painted a rosy picture [about the war in Iraq]. I have been very measured in my words and you’d have a dickens of a time trying to find instances where I’ve been excessively optimistic.”
– Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense, in testimony before Senate Committee on Armed Services, Aug. 3, 2006

“The Gulf War in the 1990s lasted five days on the ground. I can’t tell you if the use of force in Iraq would last five days, or five weeks, or five months, but it certainly isn’t going to last any longer than that.”
– Donald H. Rumsfeld, Nov. 14, 2002

“And it is not knowable if force will be used, but if it is to be used, it is not knowable how long that conflict would last. It could last, you know, six days, six weeks. I doubt six months.”
– Donald H. Rumsfeld, Feb. 7, 2003

“”The increased demand on the force we are experiencing today is likely a ’spike,’ driven by the deployment of nearly 115,000 troops in Iraq. We hope and anticipate that that spike will be temporary. We do not expect to have 115,000 troops permanently deployed in any one campaign.”
– Donald H. Rumsfeld, Feb. 4, 2004

QUESTION: “One clarification on ‘the long war.’ Is Iraq going to be a long war?”
RUMSFELD: “No, I don’t believe it is.”
– Press briefing, Feb. 1, 2006

H. Candace Gorman