Among the documents the New York Times pried loose from the Defense Department for their story on TV military analysts are the records from a December 12, 2006 meeting some of the analysts had with Donald Rumsfeld. It includes this Rumsfeld complaint:
RUMSFELD: [Iraqi militias] know the center of gravity of the thing is here in the United States. It isn’t out there. And they’re designing their attacks to have maximum effect politically, to weaken the will of the American people. Doing a pretty good job. Hell of a lot more skillful at it than we are. Have a lot greater flexibility. They can lie. Don’t have bureaucracy. They have media committees that they operate to manipulate the media. And they do it very skillfully.
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It would be wonderful enough for Rumsfeld to say this publicly, but it’s truly beautiful that he did so to his own media committee. The only thing missing is Rumsfeld angrily denouncing Iraqis for being named Donald Rumsfeld.
(The entire hour-long briefing is available as a wav sound file or a pdf transcript. This section is on page 3, and starts at about 5:50.)
PREVIOUSLY IN WORLD-WITHOUT-IRONY NEWS: Dick Cheney tells Larry King:
CHENEY: I think there’s a special obligation on major news organizations, when they’re dealing with what can sometimes be life-and-death matters, to get it right.