Truespeak

On Monday, October 7, 2002, President George W. Bush made the following statements to the American people:

”If we know Saddam Hussein has dangerous weapons today -- and we do -- does it make any sense for the world to wait to confront him as he grows even stronger and develops even more dangerous weapons?”

“Knowing these realities, America must not ignore the threat gathering against us. Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof -- the smoking gun -- that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud.”

“Some have argued we should wait -- and that is an option. In my view, it is the riskiest of all options -- because the longer we wait, the stronger and bolder Saddam Hussein will become.”

(All italics mine.)

In other words, we can’t wait. No time, hurry up, let’s move, etc. Waiting is bad.

But on Tuesday, August 17, 2004, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said “not so fast.”

The nation's top military and intelligence officials warned senators Tuesday against a rapid restructuring of U.S. spy agencies during a hearing that also exposed fault lines within the Bush administration over whether the Pentagon should yield clout to a new intelligence director.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld cautioned lawmakers that sweeping reforms could disrupt U.S. operations as the nation continues to fight insurgents in Iraq and pursue terrorists in Afghanistan and other countries.

"We need to remember that we are considering these important matters … while we are waging a war," he told the Senate Armed Services Committee. "If we move unwisely and get it wrong, the penalty would be great."

In other words slow down. Haste makes waste, chill out, relax, etc. Waiting is good.

Is it just me or are we getting mixed signals here? The way I understand it is it’s okay to rush into war on faulty intelligence but we should wait before reforming the agencies that provided us with the aforementioned faulty intelligence. Makes sense to me! (All sarcasm mine.)