Context of 'February 8, 2002: Rumsfeld Says US Will ‘Continue’ to Treat Detainees Fairly and Humanely'

US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld describes the prisoners being held in Guantanamo as “hard-core, well-trained terrorists.” [MSNBC, 1/20/2002; Guardian, 2/21/2004]

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says during a Pentagon press briefing that the US will “continue” to treat Taliban and al-Qaeda prisoners humanely. “In short, we will continue to treat them consistent with the principles of fairness, freedom, and justice that our nation was founded on, the principles that they obviously abhor and which they sought to attack and destroy. Notwithstanding the isolated pockets of international hyperventilation, we do not treat detainees in any manner other than a manner that is humane.” [US Department of Defense, 2/8/2002]

US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld says that President Bush has not decided to go to war. [White House, 9/16/2002; Associated Press, 9/16/2002]

At a press briefing, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says, “There is no doubt in my mind but that they [Iraq] currently have chemical and biological weapons.” [Associated Press, 1/7/2003]