Did Rumsfield really say "911 was a blessing in disguise"

[RobertSeattle]

At the National Press Club talk today? Any links? Any transcripts? Any audio or video?

If true - he's gotta go. This is especially stupid the day prior to 9/11.

[liberalhistorian]

1. I can't believe that's true, and until I see and hear some evidence

I'll hold off on making any judgment as to its truth. But if, indeed, it is true, Rummy will get away with it, like they all have for so long, no matter what they've said and done, because any criticism of him will be seen as "unpatriotic" and "giving aid and comfort to the enemy", and such bullshit, when what they really mean is that they can say anything they want and get away with it.

[RobertSeattle]

5. I agree - I want proof

We had the "Bush Hissy Fit" story that turned out to be a sham 2 weeks ago.

Since there obviously were hundreds of press there, if he had said this it should make it to some news outlet.

[glarius]

22. HE DEFINITELY SAID IT! I heard him....wondered why nobody commented

on it after his speech....I thought at the time "that's going to come back to haunt you"....Maybe CNN has a link somewhere.

[Cha]

2. Well ...we know he's a F*ckin' arrogrant dumbshit...but that

much of an insensitive clod?

I'll wait and save my words for him if it is true.

[Zero Gravitas]

8. von Dumbsfeld

is more reptile than human, so who knows, maybe he he is that insensitive.

[scarlet_owl]

13. I know lots of reptiles and they are all perfectly

respectable. This guy is evil incarnate.

[wryter2000]

19. I own reptiles

I own two lovely corn snakes, and I'd rather kiss them than Rummy.

[Zero Gravitas]

24. OK

how 'bout "evil reptillian alien" then?

I like lizards myself, I even have a picture of a a Jamacian Anole on a wall as my wallpaper at home and took some good pis of "Warwick Lizards" (another type of Anole I think) also, but they strike me as more cold and calulating rather than warm and cuddly.

[Fixated]

3. .....

I didn't hear it either. Do you realize how badly we can fry him with this?

[karlschneider]

4. Actually (as much as I despise the bastard) he was attributing it to

someone he was talking with. But of course he didn't disagree with the notion.
:grr:
Yes, I did watch (some of) it.

[TacticalPeek]

9. British intelligence said, "911 was a blessing in disguise".

[gratuitous]

6. Oh, no way!

I mean, that would surely be in the worst possible taste. I'd sooner believe George W. Bush would make smart comments about the attacks being the impetus for deficit spending or something along those lines! This administration of honorability and integritude would never, e-e-e-ever say something like that.

[disgruntella]

7. i searched around for a transcript

In the meantime, another poster says he was quoting someone else:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=312571#312747

Since apparently it was at National Press Club, would it show up here?

http://www.connectlive.com/npc/

[RobertSeattle]

11. I see that PaulSBC said

"He said a leader of Jordan said that if 9/11 allowed us to wake up so that we could avert a worse disaster, then it would be a blessing. He was relaying the story of what the Jordanian leader said. I knew when he said it that I needed to come here immediately and see what people were going to say about it"

Perhaps Rumsfield is too much of a "straight shooter" for his own good. This is like saying breaking you neck riding a bike is a blessing because you'll be more careful next time.

[disgruntella]

10. another possible place for a transcript

(nothing there yet)

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/dodnews.html

[caledesi]

12. He said it. I almost barfed. Such a stupid, stupid statement.

I loathe this man.

[dani]

15. for some reason it doesn't surprise me

...

[Bushknew]

21. dani, do you have a link to that pic?

[TacticalPeek]

14. I predict that before Christmas, he will be "spending more time with

family".

:toast:

[Mari333]

16. He is truly a Monster.

[Scaramouche]

17. In a way, I kinda' agree,

that it was a blessing.

It seemed that Bush was trying to get us into a war with China during the first 7 months he was in office.

Now that would have been much harder fighting than taking on the Flinstones...

<extreme cynicism off>

on edit: spelling

[VolcanoJen]

18. I've got it on Tivo; give me a sec and I'll post an unofficial transcript

One sec...

[VolcanoJen]

23. TRANSCRIPT of the comment in question

The quote came shortly after the protestors, and should give us a whole lot to chew over...

Per my Tivo:

Donald Rumsfeld: "Interestingly, about a month or two after September 11, I was in Oman, meeting with the Sultan of Oman in a tent, south of his country, he was was visiting his constituents.

He said, you know, as terrible as September 11th was, it may very well be that it was a blessing in disguise. I said, how so? And he said it was terrible, the loss of 3,000 human beings, but if it will awake the world, if it will cause us to act, if it will cause people to stop people from teaching (that) it is a good thing to kill innocent men, women and children. If that were to happen before we had a September 11, where not 3,000 people were killed, but 30,000, or 300,000, through a biological attack or whatever, he said, then it would have served a useful purpose.

That is, in a very important sense, a task we have, a responsibility we have to do everything we can as people to see that we don't have an event of that magnitude. The global war is not a war we fight so we can declare victory and go home, really. The world was changed on September 11, and if we're going to be able to live as free people and say what we want and go where we wish and send our children off to school knowing they'll be able to come home, not be terrorized, not alter the way we live our lives, then we have to recognize that we have to change, that we have to deal with these new threats in different ways."

[RobertSeattle]

25. Thanks

[disgruntella]

20. VIDEO ONLINE NOW!

http://www.connectlive.com/npc/

Consider this unconfirmed, because I don't have RealPlayer, but I believe that it's the speech we've all been talking about...