Rumsfeld's new line contradicted (Ray McGovern making news!!!)

[Harper_is_Bush]

Rumsfeld's new line contradicted
Record disputes what he says now about Iraq's weapons

Eric Rosenberg, Hearst Newspapers
Saturday, May 6, 2006

Washington -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld tried to rewrite history this week when he denied making prewar claims that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction.

Rumsfeld's latest attempt at backtracking on his prewar rhetoric came Thursday in Atlanta, at a contentious public forum where he faced a handful of hecklers and a war protester in the audience, who charged that he had lied about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction -- President Bush's top rationale for war.

The Pentagon chief denied that he lied, saying he had relied on official intelligence reports about Hussein's weapons.

His accuser persisted: "You said you knew where they were."
{edit: see post #4 below for contact info to complain about McGovern - 27 year CIA vet - not being identified as Rumsfeld questioner}

Rumsfeld shot back, "I did not. I said I knew where suspected sites were."

The record shows that in the weeks preceding the war, Rumsfeld flatly claimed to know the whereabouts of Hussein's weapons arsenal. On March 30, 2003 -- 11 days into the war -- Rumsfeld was asked in an ABC News interview if he was surprised that American forces had not yet found any weapons of mass destruction.

"Not at all," he said, according to an official Pentagon transcript. "The area in the south and the west and the north that coalition forces control is substantial. It happens not to be the area where weapons of mass destruction were dispersed. We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/05/06/MNGUUIMJDR1.DTL


THANKYOU RAY MCGOVERN!!!

Who's putting up http://thankyouraymcgovern.com ? Still "comming soon"..
Thank him on DU here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1103127

Not impressed with the "his accuser" reference above. They should be pointing out that this "accuser" is Ray McGovern, 27 year vet of the CIA.

[rodeodance]

1. SF gate contact information: Write to them/ him: Eric Rosenberg

....Not impressed with the "his accuser" reference above. They should be pointing out that this "accuser" is Ray McGovern, 27 year vet of the CIA.......


http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/info/e-mail/

Questions or comments regarding the Internet Edition of The San Francisco Chronicle or general questions about Chronicle content may be addressed by using our feedback page.

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Reader representative: If you have comments on The Chronicle's coverage, standards or accuracy, please call Dick Rogers, the readers' representative, at [phone]. Written comments can be e-mailed to [e-mail], faxed to [phone], or addressed to Readers' Representative, c/o San Francisco Chronicle, 901 Mission St., San Francisco, CA 94103. For information on delivery, billing or how to become a subscriber, call [phone].

[Harper_is_Bush]

6. Thanks rodeodance! n/t

[bullimiami]

2. Rummy could be called Former Navy Pilot or Former CEO of a Fortune 500

Pharmacutical Company but that would be irrelevant and misleading.

By calling Ray Mcgovern a 'war protestor' without mentioning his CIA credentials or his name is not only poor reporting, its deliberate misrepresentation by omission.

Why?

[rodeodance]

3. more of what Rummy said:

.....That theme continued right up to the weeks before the invasion. On Jan. 20, 2003, Rumsfeld told an audience at the Reserve Officers Association that Hussein "has large, unaccounted-for stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, including VX, sarin, mustard gas, anthrax, botulism and possibly smallpox."

At a Jan. 29, 2003, Pentagon news conference, Rumsfeld said that "the Iraqi regime has not accounted for some 38,000 liters of botulism toxin, 500 tons of sarin, mustard gas, VX nerve agent, upwards of 30,000 munitions capable of delivering chemical weapons," along with mobile biological weapons labs.

After U.S. inspectors failed to locate any weapons of mass destruction seven months after the invasion, a reporter at a Pentagon news conference asked Rumsfeld: "In retrospect, were you a little too far-leaning in your statement that Iraq categorically had caches of weapons, of chemical and biological weapons, given what's been found to date? You painted a picture of extensive stocks of Iraqi mass-killing weapons."

"Wait," Rumsfeld interjected. "You go back and give me something that talks about extensive stocks. The U.N. reported extensive stocks. That is where that came from. I said what I believed to be the case, and I don't -- I'd be surprised if you found the word 'extensive.' "

[Harper_is_Bush]

4. Complain about "his accuser" reference to McGovern here:

Reader representative: If you have comments on The Chronicle's coverage, standards or accuracy, please call Dick Rogers, the readers' representative, at [phone]. Written comments can be e-mailed to [e-mail], faxed to [phone], or addressed to Readers' Representative, c/o San Francisco Chronicle, 901 Mission St., San Francisco, CA 94103. For information on delivery, billing or how to become a subscriber, call [phone].

[Harper_is_Bush]

5. My complaint/question:

Hello

In your Saturday, May 6 story "Rumsfeld's new line contradicted" you failed to mention that it was Ray McGovern - a 27 year vereran of the CIA - who was asking questions of Donald Rumsfeld.

Instead you referred to him as "His accuser" and a "war protestor".

The fact that Ray McGovern worked for the CIA for 27 years makes his identity newsworthy.

As well, he was an invited guest asking questions, not a war protestor or a heckler.

Can you tell me why Mr. McGovern was not explicitely identified in this story?

Thankyou.

[Harper_is_Bush]

7. A little Saturday activism people, please!!! n/t

[annabanana]

8. done. . .. . n/t

[Disturbed]

9. Of course no Corp Media has Headline

"Rumsfeld Caught in Lie" Rumsfailed lied before the Illegal Invasion of Iraq and he recently lied about his lies at that time. The so called Mainstream Press aka Corp. Media were complicit in the push for the Illegal Invasion of Iraq and are still complicit in the Illegal Occupation of Iraq.

[cliss]

10. If there's ONE thing I've been able to sort out

after reading about this stuff 3 years later....

They were absolutely, maniacally, positively determined to take Iraq. No matter what the lies. No exaggeration was too large if it meant taking it. They would sell their mother for $5.00 if it meant grabbing the Crown Jewel of them all: Iraq. 200 Billion barrels of Light, Sweet Crude....the black blood that pumps our economy.

As the US troops made their way into Turkey to start the invasion, I could almost feel their maniacal lust for it....the white foam, hanging from the corners of their mouths as they thought of the oil revenues....the power.....the pissed-off contenders....

They knew there would be a price to pay. A heavy price. In fact, I'm not sure if even TODAY, Rumsfailed feels isn't worth the price of getting heckled, be constantly criticized, have editorials call you Rum the Bum, and the generals attacking him relentlessly.

Every time he opens his mouth, the blogosphere goes Full Tilt.

But what the hell, he got his oil, didn't he?