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There are denials and then there are denials

John Kiriakou's rule for reading official statements — that 'we have no such plans' is not a denial, because nothing counts as a plan until a head of government signs off on it, leaving a government free to discuss and even prepare something it can still credibly say it has no plans for.

There are denials and then there are denials is a rule of interpretation John Kiriakou applies to government statements, set out in October 2025 when Islamabad rejected reports that Pakistani troops might be sent to Gaza.

The distinction is between a denial that closes a question and one that does not. “There are denials, and then there are denials. And this is not a denial denial.”[1]

What Islamabad had issued was the second kind: “we have no such plans — which of course means you could be working on it, indeed have plans, but you can still credibly say, until you’ve pulled the trigger and the prime minister has signed off, it’s not really a plan. It’s just something we’re discussing.”[1][2]

Kiriakou agreed the reading was correct and added a caution against over-reading the reports in the other direction: “of course, Pakistan’s probably the most rumour-tastic country in the world.”[2]

See also

References

  1. DeProgram Show with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas, 2025-11-0117:12 on YouTube · Transcript
  2. DeProgram Show with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas, 2025-11-0117:42 on YouTube · Transcript

Sourced from John Kiriakou's on-record public statements. See his profile for the full body of his interviews, podcast appearances, and short-form video.