So the day has finally come to say goodbye to old Rumsfeld.
5. On Iraq:
“It’s an enormous country… you know, it’s bigger than Texas! Or as big, I guess… I haven’t looked lately.”
4. On Iraq’s “WMDs”:
“I don’t believe anyone that I know in the administration ever said that Iraq had nuclear weapons.”
3. On clarity in speaking:
“There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.”
2. On Bin Laden:
“We do know of certain knowledge that he is either in Afghanistan, or in some other country, or dead.”
1. On toppling Iraq to bring democracy to the Middle East (not really about this, but I’m sure historians will agree):
“Beware when any idea is promoted primarily because it is ‘bold, exciting, innovative, and new.’ There are many ideas that are ‘bold, exciting, innovative and new,’ but also foolish.”