Rumsfeld concedes: No Iraq WMDs. No Iraq/Al Qaeda link.

Rumsfeld backs off Al Qaeda assertions. Also concedes WMD claims about Iraq were wrong.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld appeared Monday to back off earlier statements suggesting Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had links to al Qaeda.

He also conceded that U.S. intelligence was "wrong" in its conclusions that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

"Why the intelligence proved wrong, I'm not in a position to say. I simply don't know," Rumsfeld said in remarks to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

When asked about any connection between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda, Rumsfeld said, "To my knowledge, I have not seen any strong, hard evidence that links the two."

Perhaps Rumsfeld should be investigated for disloyalty and insubordination. Treasonous, turncoat, traitor scumbag? Or flip-flop of the highest order...

[edit: link correction]

[edit on 5-10-2004 by cargo]

No doubt, we will still hear for years to come, people claiming the WMD were there, even after this admission from one of the masterminds of this debacle.
Never underestimate the power of denial

U.