# A Poll: Do you believe what Rumsfeld said? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 1, 2004, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-do-you-believe-what-rumsfeld-said/242933 "2004-05-01T04:13:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-do-you-believe-what-rumsfeld-said/242933/1 "2004-05-01T04:13:17Z")
On April 29, in an interview with Chris Matthews on _Harball_, Donald Rumsfeld said the following in reference to Bush’s pre-Iraqi war concerns: [quote] He must have asked 5,000 questions over a period of a year about this, that and the other things. What could go wrong? What about a humanitarian crisis? What about an environmental crisis? What about internally displaced people? What about a fortress Baghdad? Thousands of questions along those lines… [quote] I can see that President Bush might ask what could go wrong. But I really just can’t quite imagine his expressing concern about other issues in quite those terms or with that much foresight. Do you believe that President Bush really asked thousands of questions of that nature before making a decision? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-do-you-believe-what-rumsfeld-said/242933/2 "2004-05-01T04:16:12Z")
No. ---
**Author:** ![Phnord\_Prephect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df705f/32.png) [@Phnord\_Prephect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phnord_Prephect)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-do-you-believe-what-rumsfeld-said/242933/3 "2004-05-01T04:25:51Z")
Does it count if he asked one question 5,000 times? “Will it make me and my ‘partners’ richer?” “Really?” “We’re gonna make money off this, right?” “There’s oil there? Can we have it?” :wally ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-do-you-believe-what-rumsfeld-said/242933/4 "2004-05-01T11:24:00Z")
No. Events on the ground show it is painfully obvious that no one seriously considered unintended consequences. Looting in Panama City and elsewhere should have shown that was to be expected in the aftermath of Saddam’s fall. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-do-you-believe-what-rumsfeld-said/242933/5 "2004-05-01T11:42:49Z")
It seemed pretty obvious to me that there was absolutely nothing that would have prevented Bush from invading, so I doubt Bush would have bothered to ask questions who’s answers would have made no difference. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-do-you-believe-what-rumsfeld-said/242933/6 "2004-05-01T14:09:42Z")
_There_ you are **Zoe**! I haven’t seen you around lately and have missed your posts. Take your trip to Europe? To address the question: No, I don’t think he was telling the truth. Rummie, Shrub, Kerry, Clinton & Clinton, Bush the First, etc., are all politicians. They don’t lie, they “spin”. You and I can both look back to before JFK’s administration. The only administration I can recall that didn’t consider lying an acceptable, routine policy was Jimmy Carter’s. So while Rumsfeld was indeed spinning the truth, I’m not particularly surprised or even concerned about it. It’s simply business as usual in WDC and in all likelihood will continue no matter who is elected in November. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-do-you-believe-what-rumsfeld-said/242933/7 "2004-05-01T18:20:42Z")
I’m sure he asked some questions about it, but I wouldn’t believe him if he’d said it was 1/10th that many. Of course, I’m strongly disinclined to believe anything Rummy says… ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-do-you-believe-what-rumsfeld-said/242933/8 "2004-05-01T19:22:24Z")
If Rumsfeld said it was morning, I’d check my watch. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-do-you-believe-what-rumsfeld-said/242933/9 "2004-05-01T20:46:42Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > If Rumsfeld said it was morning, I’d check my watch. Same here. No, I don’t believe Rummy about much of anything. Nor do I believe most of Bush’s explanations. Sometimes Bush will slip up and let us know his true feelings about something, and sometimes he’ll say something about how God wants him to do something, and THEN I believe him, even though I don’t like what he’s saying. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2004, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-do-you-believe-what-rumsfeld-said/242933/10 "2004-05-01T23:12:10Z")
Is there _anyone_ who believes that the President is capable of asking even 50 of the level of questions that Rumsfeld spoke of? It’s not the number that bothers me so much as the perception required to ask the kinds of questions that Rumsfeld gave as examples. Hi, **John Carter of Mars**! Thanks for asking about my trip. I spent almost two weeks in Paris and the French couldn’t have been nicer! I can’t eat anything but watercress for the next six months though. I know that politicians twist the truth and lie when cornered. The Bush Administration has no monopoly on that. But I will never get used to it or find it tolerable. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-do-you-believe-what-rumsfeld-said/242933/11 "2004-05-02T00:39:04Z")
Rumsfeld is a lying sack of donkey manure. So, therefore, no, I don’t believe him. ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-do-you-believe-what-rumsfeld-said/242933/12 "2004-05-02T00:54:58Z")
If Bush _did_ ask (and I’m certain he inquired about some possibilities), he sure didn’t wait for a good answer before he started the war. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-do-you-believe-what-rumsfeld-said/242933/13 "2004-05-02T05:40:51Z")
No. Because if he did ask, and they either assured him everything was going to be okay or that they had a plan, any real leader would have tossed them out on their asses. It’s obvious that because Bush’es name is on the ballot, all the people who really run the government are trying to make him look like a leader, not the incurious George he really is. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-do-you-believe-what-rumsfeld-said/242933/14 "2004-05-02T05:54:54Z")
Truly, why should he have asked 5,000 questions? When you honestly believe, as the president does, that you are at the right hand of God and act as His proxy on Earth, you really don’t need to question much of anything. I really, honestly believe that everything significant that G. W. Bush does is meant to please his God. No one else, not his wife, his parents or the rest of the world matter to the degree that his Invisible Buddy does. Remember when you had an imaginary friend when you were a child? Well, it’s just like that except you didn’t believe your ‘friend’ was inerrant and all-knowing, your ‘friend’ didn’t tell you to eliminate entire heathen religions, and you didn’t have your finger on The Button. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-do-you-believe-what-rumsfeld-said/242933/15 "2004-05-02T14:13:14Z")
No. Definitely not. His boss lied to us on WMD. Why should the underlings be any more trustworthy? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-do-you-believe-what-rumsfeld-said/242933/16 "2004-05-02T14:25:00Z")
I’d like to just point out that any gov’t official at that level, especially when discussing such a politically charged subject, is not to be trusted in any way. No matter what the political party, no matter what his boss the president said, no matter what other things s/he said that may have turned out to be true. When answering a questions, these folks only think “What is the most useful way I can spin this answer, and get away with it?” Truth is completely unrelated to the anwer. I hope that those who are skeptical of this current administration stay skeptical if Kerry wins, and those unskeptical of the current admin lose the credulousness before November and especially after if Bush wins. ---
**Author:** ![Andros\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@Andros\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andros_X)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-do-you-believe-what-rumsfeld-said/242933/17 "2004-05-02T15:52:36Z")
Rummy’s lied once before and was caught on it. So no, I don’t believe him. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-do-you-believe-what-rumsfeld-said/242933/18 "2004-05-02T16:35:38Z")
Rumsfeld’s record led me to answer “no” to the OP even before i looked at the body of the post. ---
**Author:** ![woodstock989](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f05b48/32.png) [@woodstock989](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstock989)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-do-you-believe-what-rumsfeld-said/242933/19 "2004-05-02T16:37:56Z")
Sure I do. I also believe in Santa Claus, the Eater Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-do-you-believe-what-rumsfeld-said/242933/20 "2004-05-02T18:59:53Z")
> [@woodstock989](#): > > Sure I do. I also believe in Santa Claus, the Eater Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy. Perhaps a Freudian slip, but if so, a felicitous one. In any event, this whole Administration is taking on more of a **Monty Python and the Holy Grail** \* character each day that goes by. \*I was going to put in a reference to the Holy Hand Grenade, but you never know who might be watching.