Donald Rumsfeld

London, Dec. 1 (Reuters): A bizarre comment by US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld on the hunt for Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction was awarded the “Foot in Mouth” prize today by Britain’s Plain English Campaign.

Rumsfeld, renowned for his uncompromising tough talking, received the prize for the most baffling comment by a public figure.

“Reports that say something hasn’t happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know,” Rumsfeld told a press briefing in 2002.

“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.”

John Lister, spokesperson for the campaign said: “We think we know what he means. But we don’t know if we really know.”