Rumsfeld: "I didn't advocate invasion, I wasn't asked."

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was on "This Week" with George Stephanopoulos this past Sunday to disuss the war. He manages to beat out Cheney this week for sheer balls in saying whatever it takes to deflect criticism. He even comes close to besting Condoleeza Rice's appearance last month on Meet The Press.

Here's one gem, discussing the failure to impose order in post-war Iraq. Watch for Rumsfeld's trademark answering of a question by reasking and rewording the question and then giving a half-answer:

Stephanopoulos: "Several said, though, that 300,000 troops could have done it. Do you believe that?"

Rumsfeld: "We'll never know. Uhh, we'll never know. What we do know is that the battlefield commanders believed they had the right number, recommended that number, and that number was approved. I think they were correct."

Mr. Rumsfeld, I imagine General Shinseki would strongly disagree.

He continues...
"No one has ever been turned down by me. The troops that have been asked for have been given. Is it possible that some commander, at some location, in some part of that country, and went to General Casey and said 'Gee, I need more troops for this' and they made allocation decisions within the country? It's entirely possible. Is it correct to suggest that General Vines or General Casey or General Abisade have ever asked for more troops and been turned down? That is flat not true."

But here's the real whopper:

Stephanopoulos: "If you had known that no weapons of mass destruction would be found, would you have advocated invasion?"

Rumsfeld: "I didn't advocate invasion... I wasn't asked."

[See video: Rumsfeld: I wasn't asked]

Think about how scared these guys are, how desperate these guys are to distance themselves from not only the war, but the President himself- Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, I repeat Donald "Project For A New American Century" Rumsfeld, now claims that he didn't advocate the invasion of Iraq.

Talk about passing the buck.

Captain Neocon himself expects us to believe the most controlled President in history came up with this war on his own and somehow talked Rumsfeld and Cheney into it? What a joke. It is common knowledge that Rumsfeld (along with Bush crew members Dick Cheney, I. Lewis Libby, Paul Wolfowitz, and others) was one of the original architects of Iraq policy. Rumsfeld has been in charge of dealing with the Iraq situation for the United States since he met with Saddam to make friends in the 80s to the first Gulf War in 1991 to armchair-generaling Clinton's Iraq stance in the late 90s to planning and selling this current war since immediately after 9/11.

Truman said "The bucks stop here". For these guys, the bucks stops.... somewhere over... there [*points off in distance*].

The Bush administration has been on a heck of a roll lately- Blaming everyone but themselves for the Iraq debacle. 'Hey, don't get mad at us, the Democrats were stupid enough of to vote for it!'. From the intelligence failures to the post-war chaos, they've got a scapegoat for everything. This administration is like the 'Family Circus' kids pointing to the Not Me ghost when mommy comes in and sees crayon on the walls.

"Jeffy, who claimed you can't distinguish between Saddam and Al Qaeda when you talk about the war on terror??!!"
-'Not Me!'

"Billy, who said that Saddam had, in fact, reconstitued his nuclear weapons programs?!?!"
-'Not Me!'

"Dolly, who failed to prepare for a post-war occupation of Iraq?!??!"
-'NOT ME!!!'

These people are treating this war like a game, like another political campaign in which they need to win, not the country, just them. To quote Rep. Murtha, "[T]his is not a war of words, this is a real war where people are getting killed."

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Let's look at what Rummy said before the war:

-"We urge you to... enunciate a new strategy that would secure the interests of the U.S. and our friends and allies around the world. That strategy should aim, above all, at the removal of Saddam Hussein's regime from power."
(Letter to President Clinton, signed by Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and others, Jan. 26, 1998)

-"Judge whether good enough [to] hit S.H. [Saddam Hussein] at the same time. Not only UBL [Osama bin Laden]….Go massive. Sweep it all up. Things related and not."
(Donald Rumsfeld notes, Philadelphia Daily News, Sept. 11, 2001)

-"No terrorist state poses a greater or more immediate threat to the security of our people and the stability of the world than the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq."
(Testimony to Congress, Sept. 19, 2002

-"It is unknowable how long that conflict will last. It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months."
(on February 7, 2003)

-"We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south, and north somewhat."
(Discussing WMDs in an ABC interview, March 30, 2003)
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And here is Rummy rewriting history after the war began:

-"We never believed that we'd just tumble over weapons of mass destruction in that country."
(Fox News interview, May 4, 2003)

-"I don't believe anyone that I know in the administration ever said that Iraq had nuclear weapons."
(Senate appropriations subcommittee on defense hearing, May 14, 2003)

And that's the facts, Jack.

Mr. Rumsfeld, please do the United States a huge favor- RESIGN.