Double Quota

Tom Ridge on the US government's decision to invade Iraq: "I find it rather difficult to think that anybody in this country would believe that the people in charge would committ our blood and treasure to a cause if they didn't truly believe in their heart and their mind that it wasn't to protect America. [...] The final history hasn't been written. Because if some form of democracy is ultimately achieved in Iraq, and it's not going to look exactly like ours, the notion that we went in improperly will be obviously reversed. The history is yet to be written."

Rachel Maddow: "You can go back in time and sell the Americans on the idea that 4000 ought to lose their lives and we ought to lose those trillians of dollars for democracy in Iraq, you have a wilder imagination than I do. We were sold that war because of 9/11. We were sold that war because of the threat of weapons of mass destruction and they didn't have them and our government should have known it. And frankly, a lot of people believe that our government did know it and that it was a cynical decision."

The former homeland and security secretary and journalist Rachel Maddow talk about the "elephant in the room" and agree to disagree on The Rachel Maddow Show.