Rumsfeld on Weapons of Mass (self) Destruction


Evident (2002) Rumsfeld tells us all that he and the Bush Administration had "UNKNOWN" knowledge or "that is to say" NO hard evidence of WMDs in Iraq
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Q: Could I follow up, Mr. Secretary, on what you just said, please? In regard to Iraq weapons of mass destruction and terrorists, is there any evidence to indicate that Iraq has attempted to or is willing to supply terrorists with weapons of mass destruction? Because there are reports that there is no evidence of a direct link between Baghdad and some of these terrorist organizations.

Rumsfeld: Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns -- the ones we don't know we don't know. And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tend to be the difficult ones.

And so people who have the omniscience that they can say with high certainty that something has not happened or is not being tried, have capabilities that are -- what was the word you used, Pam, earlier?

Q: Free associate? (laughs)

Rumsfeld: Yeah. They can -- (chuckles) -- they can do things I can't do. (laughter)

Q: Excuse me. But is this an unknown unknown?

Rumsfeld: I'm not --

Q: Because you said several unknowns, and I'm just wondering if this is an unknown unknown.

Rumsfeld: I'm not going to say which it is.

Q: Mr. Secretary, if you believe something --

Rumsfeld: Right here. Right here. Right here.

Q: Mr. Secretary, point of clarification --

Rumsfeld: No, this is a promise.

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RUMSFELD's poetry "THE UNKNOWN"

The Unknown
As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don't know
We don't know.
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Meanwhile and later...
The 2003 invasion of Iraq, code named "Operation Iraqi Freedom" by the BUSH administration, officially began on March 20, 2003. The Bush Administration's stated objective of the invasion was "to disarm Iraq of (unknown) weapons of mass destructions , to end Saddam Hussein's (unknown) support for terrorism, and to free the Iraqi people (unknown)".