The Rumsfeld memo

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by Nephythys

Plausible.

Bottom line- he did not say we were losing. So to use him as some kind of proof that we are losing- or that no one believes we can or will or are succeeding in Iraq is inaccurate.

Well, I have a little bit of a different take.

He was asked, twice whether we were winning. He emphatically and unhesitatingly said no. Later, he was asked, do you agree with the general who said that while we are not winning, neither are we losing. THAT was what he answered not "at this point" (and with a bit of a hesitation, to my ear).

So, what's with the qualification? What could that have indicated? To my mind, considering there was absolutely no qualification in his answering no to whether we were winning, then he must be qualifying the losing part of the equation. Basically, "We aren't winning, we aren't losing, but we're probably closer to losing than we are to winning and WILL be losing if we don't fix something." Which is a far cry from the Bush and Rumsfeld doctrine of plugging their ears and going "lalalalalalala" anytime someone suggests that our strategies MIGHT lead to losing.