Testifying before Congress today, Donald Rumsfeld said he has ?never painted a rosy picture? about Iraq, and that ?you would have a dickens of a time trying to find instances where I have been overly optimistic.? (video)

That’s just nonsense. How about this quote from a speech Rumsfeld delivered at Johns Hopkins on Dec. 5, in which he slammed the U.S. press for being overly negative in its Iraq reporting.

“[U.S. reporters] can compare Iraq as it is today to what it was three years ago: a brutal dictatorship, where the secret police would murder or mutilate a family member, sometimes in front of their children, and where hundreds of thousands of Iraqis disappeared into mass graves. From that perspective, Iraq today is on a vastly different and a greatly improved path.”

A vastly different path? The Baghdad morgue received 1,595 bodies last month. Last month! And that’s up 16% over May.

  • And what kind of a “dickens of a time” did it take to find this evidence? We Googled “rumseld optimistic iraq.”
  • Readers: Got other examples? Write ’em in on the comments box. We’ll post ’em.
  • WAIT, BEFORE YOU GO…

    If you're reading this, you probably already know that non-profit, independent journalism is under threat worldwide. Independent news sites are overshadowed by larger heavily funded mainstream media that inundate us with hype and noise that barely scratch the surface. We believe that our readers deserve to know the full story. Truthdig writers bravely dig beneath the headlines to give you thought-provoking, investigative reporting and analysis that tells you what’s really happening and who’s rolling up their sleeves to do something about it.

    Like you, we believe a well-informed public that doesn’t have blind faith in the status quo can help change the world. Your contribution of as little as $5 monthly or $35 annually will make you a groundbreaking member and lays the foundation of our work.

    SUPPORT TRUTHDIG