Donald Rumsfeld’s most famous – and infamous – quotes

WASHINGTON Donald Rumsfeld – controversial Secretary of Defense and architect of the Iraq War – died on Tuesday in Taos, New Mexico, a few days before his 89th birthday, his family confirmed on Wednesday.

The Republican power broker was known for his controversial and sometimes seemingly nonsensical comments. Here is a collection of Rumsfeld’s most famous – and sometimes infamous – quotes.

About what he knew (and what he didn’t know)

“We know there are known things. There are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns. That is, we know there are things we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns – things we don’t know we don’t know,” Rumsfeld said in 2002, suggesting that Iraq may have supplied terrorists with weapons of mass destruction, although there was little evidence of this.

“Just because you don’t have evidence that something exists doesn’t mean you have evidence that it doesn’t exist,” he said on the same subject in 2002.

“I believe what I said yesterday – I don’t know what I said, but I know what I think – and I assume that’s what I said.”

“Learn to say, ‘I don’t know.’ If you use it when it’s appropriate, you’ll do it often,” he wrote in his book Rumsfeld’s Rules.

“I wouldn’t say the future is necessarily less predictable than the past. I think the past was unpredictable to begin with.”

In war

“Death tends to promote a depressing view of war,” he said of the military deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“I’m not going to give you a number because it’s not my job to do intelligent work,” Rumsfeld said when asked to estimate the number of Iraqi insurgents during testimony before Congress in 2005.

“And does that mean that you couldn’t take a TV camera or a photographer and take a picture of something imperfect and messy? I could do that in any city in America. Think of what happened in our cities when there was rioting and trouble and looting. That sort of thing happens! But in terms of what’s going on in this country, it’s a fundamental misunderstanding to see over and over again these pictures of a kid walking out with a vase and saying, ‘Oh my God, you had no plan.’ That’s nonsense. They know what they’re doing. And they’re doing a great job. And it’s messy. And freedom is messy. And free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things. They’re also free to live their lives and do wonderful things. And that’s what’s going to happen here,” he said, reacting to scenes of unrest in Baghdad in April 2003.

“As you know, you go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want to have or might want to have at some point in the future,” he told soldiers in 2004.

About Osama Bin Laden

“Osama Bin Laden is either alive and well, or alive and not so well, or not alive.”

“We know for sure that he (Osama bin Laden) is either in Afghanistan or in another country or is dead,” he said in 2001.

What he didn’t do

“I don’t do swamps.”

“I don’t do diplomacy.”

“I don’t do foreign policy.”

“I don’t do numbers.”

“I don’t make predictions.”

About life

“The only thing that should be surprising is that we continue to be surprised,” he wrote in his book “Rumsfeld’s Rules.”

“If you are not criticized, you may not accomplish much,” he also said in the book.

“Oh, sir. I didn’t mean to say anything quotable.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Known Unknowns: Donald Rumsfeld’s Most Famous – and Infamous – Quotes