Monday, Jun. 30, 2003

Verbatim

"Now, there are some who would like to rewrite history--revisionist historians is what I like to call them." GEORGE W. BUSH, denouncing critics who claim that the threat of unconventional weapons in Iraq was inflated before the war

"You got to remember that if Washington, D.C., were the size of Baghdad, we would have something like 215 murders a month." DONALD RUMSFELD, Defense Secretary, downplaying deadly attacks on U.S. troops in Baghdad

"Is the United Nations on a different planet? Are reports from here totally unread south of the Hudson?" HANS BLIX, retiring chief U.N. weapons inspector, asking why the U.S. expected to find prohibited weapons in Iraq when his team had reported none prior to the war

"We have to move urgently. We have to move with great speed and deliberateness." COLIN POWELL, Secretary of State, at a news conference in Jericho, urging Israel and the Palestinians to work toward peace in the Middle East after mounting violence

"Climate change has global consequences for human health and environment." ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, in a draft of a new report. The White House removed the sentence, along with other references to global-warming risks, and replaced it with more innocuous language

"It depends on how fast you chew, how long you chew and other factors." BOB BOUTIN, executive vice president of Knechtel Laboratories, on the effectiveness of a potential new Viagra gum

"No taxation without respiration." TOM FEENEY, Republican Congressman from Florida, one of 264 House members who voted to eliminate the estate tax

"I feel a little sick to my stomach just thinking about it." TUCKER CARLSON, conservative co-host of CNN's Crossfire, after Hillary Clinton's memoir sold 600,000 copies in its first week. He had promised to eat his shoes and tie if sales reach 1 million copies

Sources: CNN; AP; New York Times (3); Chicago Tribune; AP; Washington Post