UPDATED: Rumsfeld Colbert-ed by CIA man (video)

Posted by Evan Derkacz at 8:35 AM on May 5, 2006.

Note: Colbert video is back up and running HERE.

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[SEE UPDATE BELOW] CIA vet Ray McGovern, whose articles frequently appear on AlterNet, stood up today and asked Rumsfeld why he lied to the American people about WMD. From John Amato, who has the VIDEO:

Rumsfeld: ...it appears that there were not weapons of mass destruction there.

McGovern: You said you knew where they were.

Rumsfeld: I did not. I said I knew where suspect sites were and...

McGovern: You said you knew where they were. Tikrit, Baghdad, northeast, south, west of there. Those are your words.

Rumsfeld: My words-my words were that-no-no, wait a minute--wait a minute. Let him stay one second. Just a second....

Man, did McGovern screw the pooch on this one. What Rummy actually said was: "We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat."

See the wording? The way it's all out of order and inexact? Unfortunately, much as he was thrown off his game and forced to lie to cover his earlier lie and then lie again when it came to al Qaeda/Saddam connections, Rumsfeld gets to play the part of the elder statesman to the sheep-like audience who boo and want McGovern kicked out.

No no, Rummy says, keep him in here. The following questioner, unfortunately cut off at the end of the video, couldn't have been more advantageous, all but urinating on McGovern and fellating the Secretary. (Crooks & Liars)

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UPDATE: McGovern, the CIA vet who simply asked Rumsfeld to defend his own prewar statements about WMD was subsequently grilled by CNN's Paula Zahn [VIDEO].

Thinkprogress, who has the transcript, writes:

McGovern ably defended himself, educating Zahn that this was "not a matter of axes to grind. It’s a matter of telling the truth. And we pledged, in my day at the CIA, to tell it without fear or favor, to tell it like it is. And, when I see that corrupted, that is the real tragedy of this whole business."

UPDATE 2: Pentagon doesn't think Rumsfeld lied! Fancy that.

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Evan Derkacz is a New York-based writer and contributor to AlterNet.