Here's the "unknown unknowns" quote [0] in context. Rumsfeld is responding to a question on whether Iraq had any connections to WMDs. He's justifying the invasi

Here's the "unknown unknowns" quote [0] in context. Rumsfeld is responding to a question on whether Iraq had any connections to WMDs. He's justifying the invasion by saying that inspectors aren't allowed in the country, so the US doesn't know if there are WMDs or not. > Q: Could I follow up, Mr. Secretary, on what you just said, please? In regard to Iraq weapons of mass destruction and terrorists, is there any evidence to indicate that Iraq has attempted to or is willing to supply terrorists with weapons of mass destruction? Because there are reports that there is no evidence of a direct link between Baghdad and some of these terrorist organizations. > Rumsfeld: Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns -- the ones we don't know we don't know. And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tend to be the difficult ones. > And so people who have the omniscience that they can say with high certainty that something has not happened or is not being tried, have capabilities that are -- what was the word you used, Pam, earlier? > Q: Free associate? (laughs) > Rumsfeld: Yeah. They can -- (chuckles) -- they can do things I can't do. (laughter) > Q: Excuse me. But is this an unknown unknown? > Rumsfeld: I'm not -- > Q: Because you said several unknowns, and I'm just wondering if this is an unknown unknown. > Rumsfeld: I'm not going to say which it is. [0] https://archive.defense.gov/Transcripts/Transcript.aspx?TranscriptID=2636 https://archive.defense.gov/Transcripts/Transcript.aspx?Tran...