By Will Dunham
Washington - Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld faced tough questions and hecklers during a stormy speech in Atlanta on Thursday, with a former CIA analyst accusing him of lying his way into the Iraq war.
Rumsfeld, an unyielding defender of the war, denied lying. He told an audience at the Southern Centre for International Studies that the Bush administration gave an "honest opinion" that prewar Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
"I would like to ask you to be upfront with the American people. Why did you lie to get us into a war that was not necessary, that has caused these kinds of casualties? Why?" asked audience member Ray McGovern, who had a 27-year career as a CIA analyst.
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Rumsfeld, an unyielding defender of the war, denied lying "Well, first of all, I haven't lied," Rumsfeld said.
One woman whose son was a US soldier killed in the war asked if the Pentagon was making sure American troops were better equipped for combat. "You bet," Rumsfeld said. "And I'm so sorry about your son."
There have been 2 411 US military deaths in the war, with 17 874 troops wounded in combat, the Pentagon said on Thursday. Opinion polls show U.S. public support for the war declining. President George Bush recently voiced strong support for Rumsfeld after a handful of retired generals demanded his ouster, accusing him of strategic blunders in Iraq and ignoring military advice.
Rumsfeld, whose speech focused on US military alliances worldwide, was interrupted briefly by hecklers, including one clutching a sign that read: "Guilty! of war crimes."
McGovern pressed Rumsfeld about the case for war made by the administration before the March 2003 invasion.
'They gave the world their honest opinion' "I'm not in the intelligence business," Rumsfeld said about US assertions that now-deposed President Saddam Hussein possessed chemical and biological weapons and was seeking nuclear arms.
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