Tim Russert asks a great question and Rummy manages to drop in a little disinformation about the non-existent connection between Al Queda and Iraq.
This is from the November 2, 2003 program of Meet the Press.
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Rumsfeld On Whether We’re Less Safe Since The Shrub War Started
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Tim Russert:
“Go back prior to the war in march, where the argument was being made that there was no need to go to war with Saddam Hussein. He’s in a box. He’s confined. We have sanctions. We have inspections. And then the Administration decided to go to war and opened up that box. And that America is now less safe — less secure, than we were prior to the invasion.”
Donald Rumsfeld:
“I think that that’s not correct. I would say America is more safe today. If you believe the intelligence, which successive administrations of both political parties did, and other governments in the world, that he was progressing with these programs and that this is a country who’s used the weapons before. That’s used them on its neighbors — used them on his own people. I don’t know if you’ve seen any of the tapes more recently of what they do to their own people. Of cutting off people’s heads and cutting off their fingers and their hands, and pulling out their tongues and cutting them off — throwing them off three story buildings. This is a particularly vicious regime, Saddam’s regime.
It is true, we have terrific young men and women being killed and wounded today, as we did yesterday, and your heart goes out to their families and to their loved ones. But what they’re doing is important. What they’re doing is taking the battle to the terrorists. There are foreign terrorists coming in to Iraq. That’s true. We know that. We’ve captured two or three hundered of them from various countries.”
Tim Russert:
“Stop there. Would that have happened — would they have gone to Iraq but for the fact that we went in there?”
Donald Rumsfeld:
“Why sure. The Ansur al islam (sp) was already in Iraq. There were Al Quaeda already in Iraq. The Iraqis were engaged in terrorism themselves. They were giving $25,000 to suicide bombers’ families who would go in and kill innocent men, women and children. They are a part of that. And certainly, the work in Iraq is difficult. It’s tough. And it is gonna to take some time, but good progress is being made in many parts of the country…”