The ax of truth

Holy cow.

Ray McGovern, former analyst for the CIA, tried to pin down Rumsfeld on WMD at a press event:

McGovern: and So I would like to ask you to be up front with the American people, why did you lie to get us into a war that was not necessary, that has caused these kinds of casualties? why?

RUMSFELD: Well, first of all, I haven’t lied. I did not lie then. (applause) Colin Powell didn’t lie. He spent weeks and weeks with the Central Intelligence Agency people and prepared a presentation that I know he believed was accurate, and he presented that to the United Nations. the president spent weeks and weeks with the central intelligence people and he went to the American people and made a presentation. I’m not in the intelligence business. they gave the world their honest opinion. it appears that there were not weapons of mass destruction there.

McGovern: You said you knew where they were.

RUMSFELD: I did not. I said I knew where suspect sites were and we were.....just...(crosstalk)

McGovern: You said you knew where they were Tikrit, Baghdad, northeast, south, west of there. Those are your words.

RUMSFELD: My words.... my words were that .... no, no, no wait a minute, wait a minute. Let him stay one second. Just a second,

McGovern: This is America, Huh.(applause)

RUMSFELD: You’re getting plenty of play, sir.

McGovern: I’d just like an honest answer.

RUMSFELD: I’m giving it to you.

McGovern: Well we’re talking about lies and your allegation there was bulletproof evidence of ties between al Qaeda and Iraq. Was that a lie? or where you mislead?

RUMSFELD: Zar..., Zarqawi was in Baghdad during the prewar period. That is a fact.

McGovern: Zarqawi? He was in the north of Iraq in a place where Saddam Hussein had no rule. That's where he was.

RUMSFELD: He was also… (crosstalk) He was also in Baghdad.

McGovern: Yes, when he needed to go to the hospital.Come on, these people aren’t idiots. They know the story.

RUMSFELD: You are... Le...,Let me, Let me give you an example it's easy for you to make a charge, Um, but why do you think that the men and women in uniform every day when they came out of Kuwait and went into Iraq put on chemical weapon protective suits, because they like the, ah, style (laughter) They honestly believed that there where chemical weapons Saddam Hussein had used Chemical weapons on his own people previously, he'd used them on his neighbor the Iranians and they believed he had those weapons. We believed he had those weapons.

McGovern: That's what we call a non-secretor [sic], it doesn't matter what the troops believe, it matters what you believe(crosstalk)

Moderator: I, I Think, I think, I think mister secretary the debate is over we have other questions, that courtesy to the audience.(applause)

Wow, that's pretty fucking brave, huh? And given all the criticism of our lap dog press, you'd think that the above confrontation would afford him some respect in the media for his determination and refusal to back down.

You'd be wrong.

Because we have geniuses like Paula Zahn to interview him, and ask him genius questions like the following:

ZAHN: Did you go to this speech today with the intent of challenging Secretary Rumsfeld?

MCGOVERN: I had no predetermined objectives. I just wanted to see what he had to say. But I did get very motivated when the first lady was ejected ... from the crowd.

ZAHN: What was it, then, that you wanted to accomplish by following her rather pointed question?

MCGOVERN: Well, you know, she talked about lies. And I get very upset when Donald Rumsfeld shakes his head and says, "Lies, gosh, lies. I hate it when somebody says that our president would tell lies."Of course, she hadn't said the president; she said Rumsfeld. But he said that lies are fundamentally destructive of the trust, without which government cannot work.And that's true. And I found myself really agreeing with that.

ZAHN: Essentially, what he told you is: I never said exactly where the weapons of mass destruction were. I was referring to, we had a pretty darn good idea where the sites were. ... Do you buy what he said today?

MCGOVERN: His words [in 2003] were: "We know where -- where the WMD are. They're near Tikrit and Baghdad, and north, south, east, and west of there." That's a direct quote.And when he used that wonderful non sequitur by looking at the uniformed personnel in the front row and saying: "Well, they went in with protective gear; they certainly thought there were weapons of mass destruction there." Well, my goodness, of course, they did. Because you, Donald Rumsfeld, told them that they were there.And, you know, it's not polite to say this, but that was a bald-faced lie. And ... he should have owned up to it, if he wants there to be a modicum of trust.

ZAHN: How much of an ax do you have to grind with Secretary Rumsfeld?

MCGOVERN: It's not a matter of axes to grind. It's a matter of telling the truth.
And we pledged, in my day at the CIA, to tell it without fear or favor, to tell it like it is. And, when I see that corrupted, that is the real tragedy of this whole business.

ZAHN: There was a point where it appeared as though you were going to get kicked out.

MCGOVERN: Yes.

ZAHN: Donald Rumsfeld encouraged whoever I think had their hands on you at the time to let you stay there. Does he get any credit for that today?

MCGOVERN: At first, I thought, "Well, that was rather gracious."But, then I got to thinking, I was not abusing the privilege. I was simply asking pointed questions. And for the national TV audience to see me carted away for asking Rumsfeld to explain what any objective observer would call a lie, that wouldn't have been good PR. So, yes, I'm glad he let me stay. But I think it was for self-interested reasons.

Holy fucking Christ, where to start with this dumb-ass bitch and her pitiful fucking excuse for an interview?

Here's a guy who used to work for the CIA, and obviously has some idea of what the intelligence was on Iraq, and this guy has just stood up in front of reporters and honestly tried to get a straight answer on the intelligence out of our Secretary of Defense, and what she wants to know is if he has "an ax to grind?"

Think of the questions you would have asked McGovern. Questions about what the CIA reported to BushCo concerning the supposed al-Quaida/Iraq link, and WMD, and what happened to that intelligence. Questions about whether Powell really believed that UN presentation was "accurate," for fuck's sake.

No, none of that factual stuff for the queen of the CNN blondes. She wants to know if he gives Rumsfeld credit for telling security not to drag his ass out of the event, mid-question.

And then the queen and her ilk sit around on their little yammering back-slapping talking head "news" shows and they have the temerity to wonder, to wring their hands and wonder, why oh why the public doesn't trust the fucking media.

Incredible.

(links via HuffPo)