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01/13/2004 Archived Entry: "Whoa, Mommy...."
Whoa, Mommy....
Karl Rove better get busy - looks like there's a whole 'nother career to destroy here.
President Bush ordered the Pentagon to explore the possibility of a ground invasion of Iraq well before the United States was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001, an official told ABCNEWS, confirming the account former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill gives in his new book.The official, who asked not to be identified, was present in the same National Security Council meetings as O'Neill immediately after Bush's inauguration in January and February of 2001.
"The president told his Pentagon officials to explore the military options, including use of ground forces," the official told ABCNEWS. "That went beyond the Clinton administration's halfhearted attempts to overthrow Hussein without force."
In The Price of Loyalty, O'Neill says that from the very start of his administration, Bush was focused on ousting Saddam. Bush says that his policy at the time was merely a continuation of the Clinton administration's stance. White House aides have suggested O'Neill, whom Bush fired in December 2002, is merely trying to sell books.
Both the official who spoke to ABCNEWS and O'Neill have acknowledged that Bush had not yet made up his mind for a ground invasion at the start of his administration, but they say officials were told to find ways to get rid of the Iraqi leader.
"Getting Hussein was now the administration's focus, that much was already clear," O'Neill says in his book.
Defense Secretary Rumsfeld disputed O'Neill's account today. "I don't know what meetings he could have been in," Rumsfeld told reporters during a Pentagon briefing.
Dear God - I'm not normally a praying man, but having a handful of officials putting the lie to Bush's lie would be soooo sweet. Just sayin'...
Replies: 4 people speak up
you can bet the white house will be a lot quicker finding this leak than the last one
Posted by justin @ 01/13/2004 10:13 PM NY
dear jesus, PLEASE let more officials come out and tell the truth!!!
Posted by myküll @ 01/13/2004 10:48 PM NY
AMEN! =)
Posted by sellursoul @ 01/14/2004 02:00 PM NY
Now then, O'Neill also talks about his objections to economic policy being completely based on politics, and he's portrayed as a fiscally responsible old guard GOP guy. But does anyone remember when he called for the abolition of all corporate taxation?
I do.
Posted by Dr. Squid @ 01/16/2004 01:47 AM NY
