Critics of the Iraq War Put Rumsfeld on the Defensive

When Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld goes on the road to deliver a speech, it’s usually in front of a relatively respectful audience: U.S. troops stationed overseas, the Council on Foreign Relations and the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation dinner have been among his appearances this year.

An audience in Atlanta on Thursday turned out to be a bit different.

Rumsfeld was interrupted three times by antiwar protesters during his speech, and during a question-and-answer session afterward he was forced to defend himself against charges by a former high-ranking CIA analyst that he intentionally lied to push the U.S. into war in Iraq.

Rumsfeld sought to make light of the flak during his address to the Southern Center for International Studies, a nonprofit educational group, telling the audience the protesters were just a few “close personal friends” of Peter White, the center’s president.

Ray McGovern, a 27-year CIA veteran who once gave then-President George H.W. Bush his morning intelligence briefings, engaged in what became an extended debate with Rumsfeld after asking why the Defense secretary had insisted before the Iraq invasion that there was “bulletproof evidence” linking Saddam Hussein to Al Qaeda.

“Was that a lie, Mr. Rumsfeld, or was that manufactured somewhere else? Because all of my CIA colleagues disputed that and so did the 9/11 commission,” McGovern asked near the start of the 45-minute question-and-answer session. “Why did you lie to get us into a war that was not necessary?”

At the start of the exchange, Rumsfeld remained his usual unflappable self, insisting, “I haven’t lied; I did not lie then,” before launching into a vigorous defense of the administration’s prewar assertions on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction.

But Rumsfeld became uncharacteristically tongue-tied when McGovern pressed him on claims that he knew where unconventional Iraqi weapons were located.

“You said you knew where they were,” McGovern said.

“I did not. I said I knew where suspected sites were,” Rumsfeld retorted.

McGovern then read from statements the Defense secretary had made that weapons were located near Tikrit, Iraq, and Baghdad, which led Rumsfeld to briefly stammer. The Defense secretary recovered after admonishing a security guard who was trying to push McGovern away from the microphone.

“It is easy for you to make a charge,” Rumsfeld said, recovering his composure and insisting U.S. troops believed they would encounter chemical or biological weapons.

Rumsfeld went on to field a dozen other questions, including from a woman whose son was killed in Iraq and who asked about help for the children of slain service members. Rumsfeld asked her to submit her name to Southern Center officials. “And I’m so sorry about your son,” Rumsfeld said.

In an interview after the speech, McGovern, 66, who lives in the Washington area, said he obtained a ticket for Thursday’s address through an acquaintance who had forwarded him an e-mail invitation. The invitation directed him to a website that asked for detailed information about his background.

“I filled it all out and, lo and behold, there was a ticket in the mail,” he said.

White, the center’s president, said he had sent invitations to a wide range of civic and business groups, noting the Pentagon had put no restrictions on who should be included.

“This was not any polished group,” White said. “That’s how you get credibility.”

Rumsfeld has a long association with the Southern Center, which holds regular gatherings of former Defense secretaries and secretaries of State, programs that are later broadcast on PBS. White said Rumsfeld had been a regular participant.

“I don’t think it caused him any discomfort,” White said of Thursday’s disruptions. “He’s unflappable.”

McGovern said his question was prompted by Rumsfeld’s response to one of the three antiwar protesters who interrupted the Defense secretary’s prepared address, accusing him of lying about prewar intelligence.

“That charge is frequently leveled against the president for one reason or another, and it is so wrong, so unfair and so destructive of a free system where people need to trust each other and government,” Rumsfeld said after the protester had been whisked out of the room.

The two other protesters stood up at various points in the speech and accused Rumsfeld of being a war criminal.

A fourth demonstrator stood silently in the middle of the room, his back to Rumsfeld, with a badge on his suit jacket reading “impeach.” The man stood throughout the speech and walked out on his own just before the question-and-answer session began.

Times staff writer Julian Barnes contributed to this report.