We Know He Knew They Knew, And So On

As I mentioned recently, the BBC just interviewed Jafar Dhia Jafar, the head of the Iraqi nuclear program during the eighties. While the website article doesn't mention it, the piece that was broadcast includes this exchange:

REPORTER: As war grew closer, politicians on both sides of the Atlantic made increasingly alarming claims about Iraq's capability. [TO JAFAR] What was your reaction in the run up to war when you heard some of the claims coming from politicians about Iraq reconstituting its nuclear program?

JAFAR: I knew they were lying to their people. That was my reaction. And I knew they knew they were lying.

You'd think the US networks, what with their relentless hatred of America and all, would want to interview Jafar too. The fact that there has been no interview of Jafar on US TV or even a mention of the Jafar BBC interview almost makes you think the media isn't liberal -- that in fact it's corporate and right wing. Fortunately, this evidence can be discarded because the conclusion is impossible.

And speaking of Jafar, here's an enjoyable excerpt from an appearance by Donald Rumsfeld on Face the Nation on April 13, 2003:

BOB SCHIEFFER: David Martin of CBS News has learned that the -- that we have custody, I guess is the word, of the head of the Iraqi Nuclear Program... the name we have been given is Jafar dhia Jafar... One of the things that apparently he has told U.S. officials is that the Iraqi Nuclear Program ended in 1991.

SEC. RUMSFELD: That's been the standard mantra from the Iraqis over a sustained period of time... There hasn't been much that they've said that is believable. Anyone who's watched them over the years knows that they're liars, skillful to be sure. And they've been able to get the world's press to carry their lies around as though they were true without saying, "Be on notice. Caution. These people lie repeatedly."

It's like a compulsion with Rumsfeld, isn't it? I'm waiting for him to go on Face the Nation and say:

RUMSFELD: Look, Saddam Hussein regime's lied. That shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. It invaded countries under false pretenses, pretending it had to for its own national security. Worst of all, its Secretary of Defense is a deceitful man named Donald Rumsfeld. Yet the media will let him go on shows and lie repeatedly without challenging him. In fact, he's on Face the Nation this very second.