Is Rummy DRUNK!?!

Donald Rumsfeld was on PBS this weekend. he had this to say:

I was very careful. I never predicted any number of deaths or the cost or the length because I've looked at a lot of wars, and anyone who tries to do that is going to find themselves wrong, flat wrong ... I don't know anybody who had any reasonable expectations about the number or the length of the war or the cost of the war. I just don't - no one I know went out and said these are how those three metrics ought to be considered. And you can take it to the bank.

This is has always bothered me. not because i expect him to have a crystal ball, but because he's always claimed to have NO IDEA what the cost/time would be. really? NO IDEA? how did you get this job!? Well, i guess i over react. you know, above he said he's never even met anyone that'd hazard such a guess on the timeframe. Well, I bumped into a few. Hey Rummy, maybe you've met these guys:

Length of War:

Rumsfeld, 2/7/03: "It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months."

Cheney, 3/16/03: "I think it will go relatively quickly, . . . (in) weeks rather than months"

Cost:

Daniels, 12/30/02: "The administration's top budget official [Mitch Daniels] estimated today that the cost of a war with Iraq could be in the range of $50 billion to $60 billion... Mr. Daniels declined to explain how budget officials had reached the $50 billion to $60 billion range for war costs..." [New York Times, 12/31/02]

Casualties:

Q: If your analysis is not correct, and we're not treated as liberators, but as conquerors, and the Iraqis begin to resist, particularly in Baghdad, do you think the American people are prepared for a long, costly, and bloody battle with significant American casualties?

Cheney: Well, I don't think it's likely to unfold that way, Tim, because I really do believe that we will be greeted as liberators. [Meet the Press, 3/16/03]

He really ought to meet some of those people that work with him at the white house.