Cheering the Republic
But TNR was the magazine that introduced me to hard-core politics and the words "policy wonk," I must balance the bad with the good.Here's an exercpt from last week's Notebook feature:
On "Face the Nation" this Sunday ... [Secretary of Defense Donald] Rumsfield said:
You and a few other critics are the only people I've heard use the phrase 'immediate threat.' I didn't. The president didn't. ... If you have any citations, I'd like to see 'em.
Then, like a gift from the Gods of Nexis, Friedman produced such a citation:
Friedman: We have one here. It says "some have argued that the nu"--this is you speaking--"that the nuclear threat from Iraq is not imminent, that Saddam is at least five to seven years away from having nuclear weapons. I would not be so certain."
Rumsfeld: And--and--
Friedman: It was close to imminent.
Rumsfeld: Well, I've--I've tried to be precise, and I've tried to be accurate. I'm s--suppose I've--
Friedman: "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."
Rumsfeld: Mm-hmm. It--my view of--of the situation was that he--he had--we--we believe, the best intelligence that we had and other countries had and that--that we believed and we still do not know--we will know.
Perhaps that will put the "imminence" debate to rest--once and for all.
