rogerj

Memorable Quotes by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld

By
Daniel Kurtzman,
About.com

I would not say that the future is necessarily less predictable than the past.
I think the past was not predictable when it started."


"We do know of certain knowledge that he [Osama Bin Laden] is either in
Afghanistan, or in some other country, or dead."


"We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and
east, west, south and north somewhat." ?on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction


"Death has a tendency to encourage a depressing view of war."


"Freedom's untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes
and do bad things." ?on looting in Iraq after the U.S. invasion, adding "stuff
happens"


"As you know, you go to war with the army you have, not the army you might
want or wish to have at a later time."


"[Osama Bin Laden is] either alive and well or alive and not too well or not
alive."


"I am not going to give you a number for it because it's not my business to do
intelligent work." -asked to estimate the number of Iraqi insurgents while
testifying before Congress


"I believe what I said yesterday. I don't know what I said, but I know what I
think, and, well, I assume it's what I said."


"Needless to say, the President is correct. Whatever it was he said."


"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."


"If I said yes, that would then suggest that that might be the only place
where it might be done which would not be accurate, necessarily accurate. It
might also not be inaccurate, but I'm disinclined to mislead anyone."


"There's another way to phrase that and that is that the absence of evidence
is not the evidence of absence. It is basically saying the same thing in a
different way. Simply because you do not have evidence that something does
exist does not mean that you have evidence that it doesn't exist." -on Iraq's
weapons of mass destruction


"It is unknowable how long that conflict [the war in Iraq] will last. It could
last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months." -in Feb. 2003


"Well, um, you know, something's neither good nor bad but thinking makes it
so, I suppose, as Shakespeare said."


"Secretary Powell and I agree on every single issue that has ever been before
this administration except for those instances where Colin's still learning."


"Learn to say 'I don't know.' If used when appropriate, it will be often."


"I don't know what the facts are but somebody's certainly going to sit down
with him and find out what he knows that they may not know, and make sure he
knows what they know that he may not know."


"I'm not into this detail stuff. I'm more concepty."


"I don't do quagmires."


"I don't do diplomacy."


"I don't do foreign policy."


"I don't do predictions."


"I don't do numbers."


"I don't do book reviews."


"Now, settle down, settle down. Hell, I'm an old man, it's early in the
morning and I'm gathering my thoughts here."


"If I know the answer I'll tell you the answer, and if I don't, I'll just
respond, cleverly."


"Oh, Lord. I didn't mean to say anything quotable."

CWS530

Now that's funny.

luigi524td

I thought you didn't intend to say anything quotable ?!?!

rogerj

Scary funny... in a funny scary kinda way.

v_therussian

See, I just don't think its even funny...

ImolaRedM

As a TV political satire, maybe. However, that 5 year run on CNN was a bad show.

lightfytr

Scary and funny to me!

CWS530

Considering the context and his former position, I thought the scary part was self-evident.