Forked tonguing

Ray McGovern, a 27-year CIA veteran who once gave President George H.W. Bush his morning intelligence briefings, engaged in an extended debate with Rumsfeld after asking why the defense secretary had insisted before the Iraq invasion that there was "bulletproof evidence" linking Saddam Hussein to Al Qaeda.

"Was that a lie, Mr. Rumsfeld, or was that manufactured somewhere else? Because all of my CIA colleagues disputed that, and so did the 9/11 commission," McGovern said during a question-and-answer session. "Why did you lie to get us into a war that was not necessary?"

At the start of the exchange, Rumsfeld remained unflappable, insisting, "I haven't lied. I did not lie then," before launching into a vigorous defense of the administration's prewar pronouncements on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

But he became tongue-tied when McGovern pressed him on claims that he knew where unconventional Iraqi weapons were located.

"You said you knew where they were," McGovern said.

"I did not. I said I knew where suspected sites were," Rumsfeld retorted.

McGovern then read from the defense secretary's past statements. As U.S. troops approached Baghdad in March 2003, Rumsfeld had said about weapons of mass destruction: "We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat."