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War, War, War See other War, War, War Articles Title: Wolfowitz and Rumsfeld wanted Iraq war At some point Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz started pushing hard to attack Iraq. In their minds, this disaster could be turned around into an ideal opportunity to end the problems we were having with Saddam Hussein — just blame the 911 attacks on him. I did not agree with that because there was absolutely zero intelligence that would indicate that Iraq was involved in the 911 attack. Nor was there intell linking either Saddam or anyone else in Iraq to Usama bin Laden. Both Mueller and Tenet had just made it clear that Usama bin Laden and his organization were responsible for these terrorist acts. I wondered how Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz planned to blame this on Saddam since neither the FBI nor CIA had one shred of intell bringing Saddam into the picture. Rumsfeld’s didn’t really seem to care what Tenet and Mueller had briefed because this was a golden opportunity to go after Saddam Hussein. In his mind everyone had to know that there were links between UBL, the al Qaida organization, and Saddam Hussein. We gotta get this guy was all we were hearing from Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, referring to Saddam, not bin Laden.It was almost likeparanoia. Colin and I lobbied just as strongly in the other direction, based on the intelligence provided by the FBI and CIA. It didn’t stop. Once we got back to the Pentagon, Wolfowitz was still insistent that we get our Iraq plans up to speed so that we were completely prepared to invade Iraq. We had General Tommy Franks dust off the Iraqi plans and start taking a look at what would make the most sense from a planning perspective if the decision was made to take out Saddam at this time. We had a number of preexisting plans surrounding various Iraq operations, and we wanted Tommy prepared to present them, if required. On the thirteenth, George Tenet used the White House NSC meeting to officially present to the President the plan that he and I discussed in our brief sidebar the other day. He brought Cofer Black (head of CIA counterterrorism center) with him for a follow-up presentation. “What we’re proposing is an aggressive covert-action plan directed primarily toward al Qaida and the Taliban, and to achieve this we will insert a CIA paramilitary team into Afghanistan to work closely with opposition forces — primarily the Northern Alliance — to prepare the way for Special Operations forces. It was an aggressive plan, and Cofer presented it with a dynamic enthusiasm that completely captivated the President; he was totally on board. The plan would be refined in the days to come, but it would be the foundation of the CIA’s Camp David presentation over the weekend. Throughout that week we had NSC meetings, some with the President, others just the principles — but they all led up to the principles weekend at Camp David.It was here that the President would decide on which option to pursue. In the interim, Congress would pass a significant joint resolution (signed into law by the President on September 18, 2001) authorizing the President “to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons.” In theory I suppose Camp David was selected for our next round of discussions in order to lend a more informal feel to the proceedings. About seventy miles outside of Washington in the Catoctin Mountains of Maryland, the setting certainly was rustic. Those meetings on Saturday, September 15, bore the distinction of being one of the very few times I would meet with the President in anything other than my Army uniform. Our official instructions specified “casual attire” so an open collared white shirt with fall jacket won out over the uniform. For most weekend meetings at the White House (either Situation Room or Oval Office), the Cabinet officials and POTUS came in very casual dress, and I would have been welcomed in civilian attire. Even so, I wore my uniform out of respect to the office. At one point President Clinton asked me if I owned any civilian clothes. “I think I’ve got an old suit hidden somewhere in my closet,” I answered with a grin. In spite of the setting, it didn’t take long for the meeting to turn ugly, with Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz pushing hard to invade Iraq, Colin Powell and I countering that we should go after bin Laden at this time. At one of the breaks, President Bush pulled me aside and asked, “What am I missing here, Hugh?” “You’ve got it exactly right, Mr. President,” I told him. “I have neither seen nor heard anything from either the CIA or the FBI that indicates any linkage whatsoever to Iraq. Stand firm, because it will destroy us in the eyes of the Arab World if we go after Iraq under the guise of Saddam somehow being tied to this when the facts show otherwise. What you’ll have is the extremists and the fundamentalists painting it as the Americans are going after their Arab brothers just because they want to.” Earlier both Colin and I had reiterated that there was not one shred of evidence that Iraq was involved in the 9/11 attack — it had all the earmarks of bin Laden, but no link whatsoever to Saddam. By the time I was finished stating my case, the President seemed to have made his decision. “We’re going to get that guy [Saddam], but we’re going to get him at a time and place of our own choosing,” he said, nailing the lid on any further discussions about Iraq for the moment. The meeting reconvened, and the President went around the table for opinions, much as he had in the Cabinet Room.”General, what have you come up with?” he asked when he came to me, referring to our plans to attack the al-Qaida in Afghanistan, as well as the Taliban. I presented three escalating options: The first entailed TLAM strikes, cruise missiles — that most likely, would hit a few vacant training camps and cause some very expensive craters in the ground. The second option involved the TLAMs supplemented with manned bomber attacks on additional targets — an escalation from the first option, but still, most likely, not of the intensity we were after at this point. Before I could get to option three, a voice from behind the SECDEF and me interrupted. It was Wolfowitz again. “But we really need to think broader than that right now; that’s not big enough.We’ve got to make sure we go ahead and get Saddam out at the same time — it’s a perfect opportunity.” The President became irate. “How many times do I have to tell you, we are not going after Iraq right this minute, we’re going to go after the people we know did this to us. Do you understand me?” Colin and I just looked at each other and rolled our eyes. I continued with my third option, which combined the first two, and added “boots on the ground”, both Special Operators and traditional ground troops. Nothing was decided, although it was quite obvious that nobody would be backing options one or two.
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#1. To: Tatarewicz (#0)
No new news is good news here. Wolfowitz was a senior adviser to Rumsfeld. And even before 9/11 they were drawing up plans to strike Iraq from a military perspective somewhere deep in the secret halls of the Pentagon. Of course, GWBush and Cheney were waving their blessings over any plans that did not seem excessively intrusive. It was all laid out in this strategy paper by PNAC: REBUILDING AMERICA’S DEFENSES - Strategy, Forces and Resources For a New Century (2000). The initial tactics were designed by General Tommy Franks.
SMOKIN-Smoking Gun !!!
#3. To: noone222 (#2)
You should read, Plan of attack by Bob Woodward. The contents of this book reveal so much detail that I am surprised that GWBush wasn't impeached. GWBush not only fucked Iraq but America through not only his administration on domestic policies but continuing wars around the world.
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