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Iraq War Planning Began Days Into Bush Term

HeadlineJan 12, 2004

Almost as soon as President Bush took office, he decided to invade Iraq and overthrow Saddam Hussein’s government. This according to former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill who was a member of Bush’s cabinet at the time. O’Neill said “From the very first instance, it was about Iraq. It was all about finding a way to do it.” O’Neill, who was fired last year as Treasury Secretary, has come public this week with stinging criticism of President Bush and his handling of Iraq and the economy. In cabinet meetings, O’Neill said, the President acted “like a blind man in a roomful of deaf people.” Bush usually had nothing to say and allowed others to fix the agenda. O’Neill said this forced top officials to act “on little more than hunches about what the president might think.” O’Neill described his first meeting with Bush like this: “I went in with a long list of things to talk about, and I thought to engage on… I was surprised that it turned out to be me talking, and the president just listening … As I recall, it was mostly a monologue.” O’Neill is the main source for The Price of Loyalty, a new book written by former Wall Street Journal reporter Ron Suskind. In addition he spoke this week with 60 Minutes and Time Magazine. O’Neill, who also served as a member of the National Security Council, says the administration never had evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

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