I just found this at
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20010925/aponline152753_000.htm:
Rumsfeld: Pentagon Won't Lie
By Pauline Jelinek
Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2001; 3:27 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON –– Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld promised Tuesday his department will not mislead the press as part of the campaign against terrorism and said there are other ways to protect sensitive information.
"I am 69 years old, and I don't believe it's ever happened that I have lied to the press, and I don't intend to start now," he said.
At a Pentagon news conference, Rumsfeld was asked whether he could guarantee there would be no policy of giving out false information.
"You can be certain there is no campaign targeted at the news media," he said.
Pentagon officials have been unusually secretive in the last week as the Bush administration prepares for what it has said will be a long war against terrorism, which will be unlike other was the country has known and will be fought on many fronts.
Among other things, officials have refused to give many details on the military buildup under way in the Persian Gulf, which nations have joined the coalition or even what countries might be targeted.
Rumsfeld said the government is giving "a great deal of thought to handling the public affairs" surrounding the anti-terrorism campaign and held a meeting on the subject Monday.
He was asked circumstances in which Defense Department officials "will be authorized to lie to the news media" in order to increase chances of success of a military operation or gain some other advantage over adversaries.
"I cannot imagine a situation," he said. "I don't recall that I've ever lied to the press. I don't intend to. ... There are dozens of ways to avoid having to put yourself in a position where you're lying."
Rumsfeld recalled that during World War II, allies planted false information about the planned time and location of the Normandy invasion.
Rumsfeld said U.S. military officials will refuse to comment on anything that will endanger troops or operations.
"And anyone that does talk to any of you about that is breaking federal criminal law and should be in jail," Rumsfeld said.
"Responsible people won't do it," Rumsfeld said. "People that know anything won't do it. But that's a very different thing from coming out and actively telling a lie."
"I suppose you never say never," he said. "But all I can say is I cannot imagine a situation where we would be so unskillful that we would be in a position that we would have to do that to protect lives."
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On the Net: Pentagon media guide: http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/almanac/asdpa.html
© Copyright 2001 The Associated Press