November 30, 2005

Rummy's Word Games

Donald Rumsfeld is a great Secretary of Defense. Not perfect. But still great. His press conferences will go down as some of the most lively and forceful in D.C. history. Still, he gets goofy like when he refuses to call Iraqi insurgents "insurgents:"

"I've thought about it. And, over the weekend, I thought to myself, you know, that gives them a greater legitimacy than they seem to merit," Rumsfeld said.

Rumsfeld instead referred to the guerrillas in Iraq as "the terrorists" and "the enemies of the government." U.S. military statements also have referred to insurgents as "anti-Iraqi forces."

...

During the briefing, the top U.S. military officer, Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, slipped up twice and said "insurgent." With Rumsfeld standing at his side, Pace told reporters, "I have to use the word 'insurgent' because I can't think of a better word right now."

"'Enemies of the legitimate Iraqi government' -- how's that?" Rumsfeld told Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Moments later, Pace again referred to "the insurgents," then told his boss, "Sorry, sir. I'm not trainable today."

Rumfeld is also remembered for this wordy mess (which actually makes sense):

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.

"Don't Call It an 'Insurgency': Rumsfeld"

"News Briefing with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Gen. Peter Pace"