Rumsfeld's command of the briefing art form is enhanced by the fact that he
is rarely challenged with a rude question. His questioners missed a good
opportunity yesterday. A story in yesterday's Washington Post noted
Rumsfeld's statement at the previous day's briefing that the coalition
fighting this war "is larger than the coalition that existed during the
Gulf War in 1991." That was part of the message-of-the-day on Thursday.
But it's a dubious assertion. Thirty-four countries contributed military
forces in 1991, compared with a handful this time. The Post's story quoted
Ivo H. Daalder of the Brookings Institution, who was an official of the
Clinton administration, calling the assertion "a baldfaced lie."
