The meaning of "imminent".(Worth Repeating)

If David Kay is right in saying that there were no WMDs in Iraq last year, then the Iraqi threat could not have been imminent. Ah, but President Bush never claimed the threat was imminent, according to White House spokesman Scott McClellan!

Question: "You have not used the word 'imminent threat.' And the essence of Dr. Kay's comments recently would suggest that there was no way for there to be an imminent threat. Does the President now believe that, in fact, while the threat was gathering, while the threat may have been grave, that, in fact, it was not imminent?"

Answer: "I think we've said all along that it was a grave and gathering threat. And that in a post-September 11th world, you must confront gathering threats before it's too late. I think some in the media have chosen to use the word 'imminent.' Those were not words--"

Question: "The President himself never used that word?"

Answer: "Those were not words we used."

--White House spokesman Scott McClellan press briefing, January 27, 2004

Mr. McClellan's contention that President Bush never used the word "imminent" is" as silly as splitting hairs about the meaning of the word "is," as President Clinton once did. The reality is that, even if Mr. Bush did not actually use the word "imminent," he and others in the administration certainly described an imminent threat.