Deny, Deny, Deny

Shorter Rummy: I'm no Tinkerbell.

"I have never painted a rosy picture," he said. "I've been very measured in my words, and you'd have a dickens of a time trying to find instances where I've been excessively optimistic."

Shorter Think Progress: Yup, you are.

Here’s just a few of the "overly optimistic" comments made by Rumsfeld (and no, we did not have a "dickens of a time" finding them):

Dec. 18, 2002: KING: What’s the current situation in Afghanistan? RUMSFELD: It is encouraging. They have elected a government through the Loya Jirga process. The Taliban are gone. The al Qaeda are gone.

Feb. 7, 2003: "It is unknowable how long that conflict [the war in Iraq] will last. It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months."

Feb. 20 2003: '' 'Do you expect the invasion, if it comes, to be welcomed by the majority of the civilian population of Iraq?' Jim Lehrer asked the defense secretary on PBS’ The News Hour. ‘There is no question but that they would be welcomed,’ Rumsfeld replied, referring to American forces."

Mar. 30, 2003: "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."

And as Hillary succinctly pointed out, why should we believe you?

Last but not least, let's not forget where the responsibility lies here: Rummy is a total failure but it is Bush who insists in spite of those failures that he remains in office.

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