Month: September 2022

RUMSFELD'S MUSINGS about evidence for WMD in the Iraq war. "The message is that there are no "knowns." There are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say there are things that we now know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we do not know we don't know." (Black Swans). http://en.m.wikiquote.org/wiki/Donald_Rumsfeld View in LinkedIn

RUMSFELD CONTINUES. "So when we do the best we can and we pull all this information together, and we then say well that's basically what we see as the situation, that is really only the known knowns and the known unknowns. And each year, we discover a few more of those unknown." unknowns." http://en.m.wikiquote.org/wiki/Donald_Rumsfeld View in LinkedIn

MISSING EVIDENCE. "The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence ... Simply because you do not have evidence that something exists does not mean that you have evidence that it doesn't exist. And yet almost always, when we make our threat assessments ... we end up basing it on the first two pieces of that puzzle, rather than all three."(Donald Rumsfeld). http://en.m.wikiquote.org/wiki/Donald_Rumsfeld View in LinkedIn

WMD HOAX OR ERROR? "The United States effectively terminated the search effort for unconventional weaponry in January 2005, and the Iraq Intelligence Commission concluded that the judgements of the U.S. intelligence community about the continued existence of weapons of mass destruction and an associated military program were wrong." http://lnkd.in/dKUy7s8 View in LinkedIn

COLIN POWELL ON WMD IN IRAQ."That's because there's no question that Powell was consciously lying: he fabricated "evidence" and ignored repeated warnings that what he was saying was false." http://lnkd.in/dm_jVXw View in LinkedIn

POWELL STATEMENT TO UN SECURITY COUNCIL ABOUT WMDs. "My colleagues, every statement I make today is backed up by sources, solid sources. These are not assertions. What we're giving you are facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence. [T]here is no doubt in my mind..." http://lnkd.in/dm_jVXw View in LinkedIn

THE IRAQ WAR was used simply as one example of public relations today, and how the public view can be skillfully (or not) manipulated. It sets the context for trade discussions between the New a World and the Old World (relatively speaking). Not in any way to suggest that Europe is without spin, but to suggest that the level and quantity in the US is far greater. View in LinkedIn

REALITY DISTORTION. “Half the work done in the world is to make things appear what they are not.” E.R. Beadle. http://lnkd.in/dw8npjn View in LinkedIn

BIG SPENDING ON SPIN. "Corporations, governments, and special interest groups spend at least 30 billion dollars annually -- exclusively, to f___ with you."" "ttp://http://lnkd.in/drkjSke View in LinkedIn

WE ARE NUMB TO SPIN AND MENDACITY. "In 2010 ... a largely numbed state, mainlining anesthetics that induce routine torpor. In that context, the conformity of mild dissent is apt to be mistaken for outspoken moral acuity. In a numbed process, filtered through media and political buzz phrases, we talk about one number, then another. Numb and number." http://lnkd.in/dpmYzsC View in LinkedIn