Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House
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58 “most dramatic fiscal deterioration”: Alison Mitchell, “Democrat Assails Bush on Economy,” New York Times, January 5, 2002.
59 “Not over my dead body”: George W. Bush, remarks to town hall meeting, Ontario, Calif., January 5, 2002, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020105-3.html.
60 “This would be a very dangerous”: Shenon, Commission, 29–30. Howard Fineman of Newsweek was in Daschle’s office when the call came in, and the senator allowed him to stay. See “The Battle Back Home,” Newsweek, February 3, 2002, http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2002/02/03/the-battle-back-home.html.
61 “Americans trust the Republicans”: Richard L. Berke, “Bush Adviser Suggests War as Campaign Theme,” New York Times, January 19, 2002.
62 A “shameful statement”: Richard Gephardt on CNN, January 19, 2002.
63 “Nothing short of despicable”: Thomas B. Edsall, “GOP Touts War as Campaign Issue,” Washington Post, January 19, 2002, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/13/AR2007081300840.html.
64 “seriously flawed”: William H. Taft IV to John C. Yoo, memo, January 11, 2002, http://www.torturingdemocracy.org/documents/20020111.pdf.
65 “We have an image to uphold”: Eichenwald, 500 Days, 229–30.
66 “You’ll notice that everybody”: Myers, Eyes on the Horizon, 202–8.
67 “Would you apply the Geneva”: Ibid.
68 “We all agree that they’ll”: Eichenwald, 500 Days, 229–30.
69 “to the extent appropriate”: Order signed by George W. Bush outlining treatment of al-Qaeda and Taliban detainees, February 7, 2002, http://lawofwar.org/bush_torture_memo.htm.
70 Condoleezza Rice and Stephen Hadley: Stephen Hadley, author interview.
71 “No, I want it in”: Ibid.
72 “States like these and their terrorist”: George W. Bush, State of the Union address, January 29, 2002, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020129-11.html.
73 “We were more focused on the ‘evil’ ”: Dan Bartlett, author interview.
74 “quite cowardly for people”: Howard Kurtz, “Straight Man,” Washington Post Magazine, May 19, 2002.
CHAPTER 11: “AFGHANISTAN WAS TOO EASY”
1 “Where did Nixon stop?”: Eric Draper, author interview.
2 a reading contest with Karl Rove: Karl Rove, “Bush Is a Book Lover,” Wall Street Journal, December 26, 2008, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123025595706634689.html.
3 “political immaturity”: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1796034.stm.
4 “unilateralist overdrive”: Steven Erlanger, “German Joins Europe’s Cry That the U.S. Won’t Consult,” New York Times, February 13, 2002.
5 “Who Is in Axis of Evil?”: William Schneider, “A Reagan Echo,” Los Angeles Times, February 24, 2002.
6 “No wonder I think”: Elisabeth Bumiller, “Bush Says the U.S. Plans No Attack on North Korea,” New York Times, February 20, 2002, http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/20/world/bush-says-the-us-plans-no-attack-on-north-korea.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm.
7 A 1992 New Yorker article: Murray S. Waas and Craig Unger, “In the Loop: Bush’s Secret Mission,” The New Yorker, November 2, 1982, http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1992/11/02/1992_11_02_064_TNY_CARDS_000359993.
8 “No one envisioned him still”: George W. Bush, interview with BBC, November 18, 1999.
9 “If I found in any way”: George W. Bush, Republican presidential debate, Manchester, N.H., December 2, 1999.
10 “He cut and run early”: Sammon, Misunderestimated, 5.
11 “Whether he did or not”: Joe O’Neill, author interview.
12 “Every one of us”: Administration official, author interview.
13 77 percent of Americans: CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, taken January 11–14, 2002.
14 almost an identical number: Bruce Morton, “Selling an Iraq–al Qaeda Connection,” CNN.com, March 11, 2003, http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/03/11/Iraq.Qaeda.link/.
15 “The only reason we went”: Administration official interview.
16 “Niamey Signed an Agreement”: Senate Committee on Intelligence, Report on the U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Intelligence Assessments on Iraq, July 7, 2004, 38–39, http://web.mit.edu/simsong/www/iraqreport2-textunder.pdf.
17 enough to make fifty weapons: A statement cleared by the CIA said that ten tons of uranium ore would be required to enrich enough fuel to make a weapon, so five hundred tons could in theory produce fifty bombs. http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/iraq/nuke-prewar_intel_2003.htm.
18 “information on the alleged”: Senate Intelligence Committee report, 38–39.
19 “If you can’t do the right”: Glenn Hubbard, author interview. See also Suskind, Price of Loyalty, 216–21.
20 peppered him with op-ed: Memos to Dick Cheney. Copies reviewed by author.
21 “I’m no politician”: Hubbard interview.
22 “sometimes imports can cause”: George W. Bush, statement announcing steel tariffs, March 5, 2002, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/03/20020305-6.html.
23 Bush approved all but two: George W. Bush, Decision Points, 168-69.
24 waterboarded eighty-three times: Steven G. Bradbury, principal deputy assistant attorney general, memorandum to John A. Rizzo, senior deputy general counsel, Central Intelligence Agency, May 30, 2005, 37, http://media.luxmedia.com/aclu/olc_05302005_bradbury.pdf.
25 FBI agents said Zubaydah: Ali Soufan, “My Tortured Decision,” New York Times, April 22, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/23/opinion/23soufan.html.
26 Zubaydah was mentally unstable: Suskind, One Percent Doctrine, 95.
27 George Tenet disputed that: Tenet, At the Center of the Storm, 243.
28 memo drafted largely by John Yoo: Memorandum for Alberto R. Gonzales (counsel to the president), “Re: Standards of Conduct for Interrogation Under 18 USC §§ 2340–2340A,” August 1, 2002, http://www.justice.gov/olc/docs/memo-gonzales-aug2002.pdf.
29 who later recanted the statements: Isikoff and Corn, Hubris, 424.
30 “I stand for 8–10 hours a day”: Handwritten notes on memorandum for Secretary of Defense, from William J. Haynes II (general counsel), “Subject: Counter-Resistance Techniques,” November 27, 2002, http://www.defense.gov/news/Jun2004/d20040622doc5.pdf. Rumsfeld indicated his approval of the memo’s recommendations, and it was stamped December 2, 2002.
31 The plane then took off: Dick Cheney, In My Time, 371–80.
32 Cheney asked if it would be: Ibid.
33 “This is going to be tough”: Colin Powell, author interview.
34 “It was the only way I could”: Ibid.
35 “was dead on arrival”: Rice, No Higher Honor, 139–40.
36 “was dead set against”: Powell interview.
37 “I am sorry, I have to get”: Ibid.
38 “as a personal affront”: Dick Cheney, In My Time, 380–82.
39 “That is nonsense”: Powell interview.
40 “It was a mess”: Ibid.
41 “I do believe Ariel Sharon”: George W. Bush, photo opportunity, April 18, 2002, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/04/20020418-3.html.
42 “Do you have any idea”: Rice, No Higher Honor, 139–40.
43 “When will the pig leave”: George W. Bush, Decision Points, 401–3.
44 “I can’t go back empty-handed”: DeYoung, Soldier, 385–86.
45 “Mr. President, I think”: George W. Bush, Decision Points, 401–3.
46 “Does it matter”: Rice, No Higher Honor, 141.
47 “What the hell”: DeYoung, Soldier, 385–86. See also Ottaway, King’s Messenger, 237.
48 “Before you leave”: George W. Bush, Decision Points, 401–3.
49 “My brother”: Ibid.
50 “I love you like a son”: DeYoung, Soldier, 387.
51 “I don’t know who else”: Abdullah II, Our Last Best Chance, 208–9.
52 “I can imagine”: Ibid.
53 “Bush Knew”: New York Post, May 16, 2002.
54 “The president knew what?”: Dan Balz, “Bush and GOP Defend White House Response,” Washington Post, May 18, 2002.
55 CBS News first reported: David Sanger, “Bush Was Warned bin Laden Wanted to Hijack Planes,” New York Times, May 16, 2002, http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/16/politics/16INQU.html.
56 “It didn’t rattle him like it”: Ari Fleischer, author interview.
57 “It bothered me”: Sammon, Fighting Back, 362–63.
58 “used the whole force”: Karen Tumulty, James Carney, and Douglas Waller, “Behind All the Finger-Pointing,” Time, May 27, 2002, http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1002500,00.html.
59 “An investigation must not interfere”: “U.S. Officials Defend Administration’s Handling of Terror Warnings,” Agence France-Presse, May 17, 2002.
60 “Had I known that the enemy”: George W. Bush, remarks upon presenting the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy, May 17, 2002, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/05/20020517-1.html.
61 not “looking to point fingers”: Tumulty, Carney, and Waller, “Behind All the Finger-Pointing.”
62 “Putin is at huge risk”: Bolton, Surrender Is Not An Option, 77.
63 “This treaty liquidates”: George W. Bush, statement at treaty signing, May 24, 2002, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/05/20020524-10.html.
64 “I know you have separate”: Baker and Glasser, Kremlin Rising, 221.
65 “Dick Cheney’s notion of prophylactic aggression”: Weisberg, Bush Tragedy, 197.
66 “We cannot defend America”: George W. Bush, commencement address, U.S. Military Academy at West Point, June 1, 2002, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/06/20020601-3.html.
67 “He didn’t get dragged”: Steve Biegun, author interview.
68 “Finally, they buckled”: Joseph Lieberman, author interview.
69 On poster board, they scratched: Susan B. Glasser and Michael Grunwald, “Department’s Mission Was Undermined from Start,” Washington Post, December 22, 2005, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/21/AR2005122102327.html.
70 “This thing has a head of steam”: Cooper and Block, Disaster, 76–77.
71 “The president will announce”: Donald Rumsfeld, author interview.
72 “Tell him to shake his”: Annan, Interventions, 273.
73 “I had to start by saying”: George W. Bush made this comment during a joint presentation with Bill Clinton at IHS Forum at CERAWeek, Houston, March 11, 2011. The event was closed to reporters, but a transcript was provided to the author.
74 “He was dead set”: Dan Bartlett, author interview.
75 “Whoever gave a damn”: Michael Gerson, author interview.
76 went through thirty drafts: Abrams, Tested by Zion, 39–43.
77 “Of the three of you”: Hughes, Ten Minutes from Normal, 279.
78 “I call on the Palestinian”: George W. Bush, address, Rose Garden, June 24, 2002, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/06/20020624-3.html.
79 “How’s the first Jewish president”: George W. Bush, Decision Points, 404–5.
80 “Even with our friends”: George W. Bush made the comment in an off-the-record session with reporters in the Oval Office on January 4, 2005. The author was not among those reporters but obtained notes taken by a participant.
81 “You couldn’t wait for there”: Dick Cheney, author interview.
82 “Al-Zarqawi has been directing”: Rice, No Higher Honor, 178.
83 “doable, but challenging”: Micah Zenko, “Foregoing Limited Force: The George W. Bush Administration’s Decision Not to Attack Ansar Al-Islam,” Journal of Strategic Studies, August 2009, http://www.cfr.org/iraq/foregoing-limited-force-george-w-bush-administrations-decision-not-attack-ansar-al-islam/p20035.
84 Cheney and Rumsfeld argued: George W. Bush, Decision Points, 236–37. See also Rumsfeld, Known and Unknown, 446–47.
85 After one sharp debate: Rice, No Higher Honor, 178.
86 “super cautious”: George W. Bush, comments to reporters, South Lawn, June 29, 2002, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/06/20020628-8.html.
87 “He’s standing by”: Ibid.
88 Sitting on a couch: Mike Allen, “Bush Resumes Power After Test,” Washington Post, June 30, 2002.
89 “transfer temporarily”: George W. Bush, letter passing power to Dick Cheney, June 29, 2002, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/06/20020629-5.html.
90 “resuming those powers”: George W. Bush, letter revoking transfer of power, June 29, 2002, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/06/20020629-3.html.
91 “Here you have this liberal”: Karen Hughes, author interview.
92 “There was a perceptible shift”: The memo was dated July 23, 2002, and written by Matthew Rycroft summarizing a meeting between Tony Blair and top British officials. It was published in the Sunday Times of London on May 1, 2005, http://people.virginia.edu/~jrw3k/mediamatters/readings/SundayTimes_SecretDowningStreetMemo.pdf. [website is no longer active]
93 she brushed away his concerns: Haass, War of Necessity, War of Choice, 213–16.
94 “They were really beating”: Senior administration official, author interview.
95 “I really have to see”: Colin Powell, author interview.
96 “Most Iraqis will rejoice”: Dick Cheney, In My Time, 386.
97 “If you break it”: Powell interview.
98 “We should take the problem”: Powell, It Worked for Me, 211.
99 “Even if the UN doesn’t solve it”: Powell interview.
100 “Colin was more passionate”: George W. Bush, Decision Points, 237–38.
101 “The United States could certainly”: Brent Scowcroft, “Don’t Attack Saddam,” Wall Street Journal, August 15, 2002.
102 “He was pissed off”: Dan Bartlett, author interview.
103 “Son, Brent is a friend”: George W. Bush, Decision Points, 237–38.
104 “pre-9/11 mind-set”: Dick Cheney, In My Time, 388.
105 “Brent, you know, I wish”: Condoleezza Rice made the recollection during an Aspen Institute panel discussion honoring Scowcroft on August 6, 2011, http://www.aspeninstitute.org/video/summer-celebration-2011.
106 “thought it might be helpful”: Rice, No Higher Honor, 178–79.
107 “I got taken to the woodshed”: Brent Scowcroft made the remark during the Aspen forum.
108 “All the neocons were saying”: Jeffrey Goldberg, “Breaking Ranks,” New Yorker, October 31, 2005.
109 “Dick, I think you may”: Lott, Herding Cats, 235–36.
110 “authorizing all necessary means”: James Baker, “The Right to Change a Regime,” New York Times, August 25, 2002, http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/25/opinion/the-right-way-to-change-a-regime.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm.
111 “Simply stated, there is no doubt”: Dick Cheney, speech to Veterans of Foreign Wars, August 26, 2002, Nashville, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/08/20020826.html.
112 “Condi, anybody look at”: Senior administration official, author interview.
113 “Bush was hot about it”: Ari Fleischer, author interview.
114 “Call Dick and tell him”: Rice, No Higher Honor, 180.
115 “The president is concerned”: Ibid., 180.
116 “It’s cut off the president’s”: Hayes, Cheney, 381–82.
117 “Many have suggested”: Dick Cheney, speech to veterans of the Korean War, August 29, 2002, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/08/20020829-5.html.
118 “went well beyond”: Tenet, At the Center of the Storm, 315–16.
119 “I should have told”: Ibid.
CHAPTER 12: “A BRUTAL, UGLY, REPUGNANT MAN”
1
“What are we talking about Iraq for?”: Karen Hughes, author interview.
2 Rice knew how much: Condoleezza Rice, author interview.
3 “I didn’t volunteer it”: Joe O’Neill, author interview.
4 “Saddam Hussein is a serious threat”: Fleischer, Taking Heat, 277–78.
5 “I will be with you”: Ibid. Fleischer in his book identifies Biden only as a Democratic senator who later voted for the war. But in an e-mail exchange with the author, Fleischer confirmed that the senator in question was Biden.
6 “If you invade Iraq”: Dick Armey, author interview. See also Isikoff and Corn, Hubris, 24–25.
7 the session was “a disaster”: Christine Ciccone (White House legislative aide) to Nick Calio (director of White House legislative affairs), memo, September 4, 2001. Reviewed by author.
8 “yet one more meaningless”: Dick Cheney, In My Time, 390–91.
9 “Either he will come clean”: George W. Bush, Decision Points, 238–39.
10 “It was very much on everybody’s”: Bartlett interview.
11 “In neither this meeting”: Dick Cheney, In My Time, 390–91.
12 “There was no disagreement”: Rice, No Higher Honor, 181.
13 “very sour throughout”: Campbell, Blair Years, 635.
14 “as never before Cheney’s influence”: Meyer, DC Confidential, 251.
15 “I think ultimately he bought”: Tony Blair, Journey, 406.
16 “Your man has got cojones”: George W. Bush, Decision Points, 238–39. Alastair Campbell remembered the line as “Your guy’s got balls.” But Bush was prone to use the word “cojones” and later referred to the session as “the cojones meeting.” Christopher Meyer, the British ambassador, likewise remembered it being “cojones,” noting that he was probably the only Briton there to understand the reference. See Meyer, DC Confidential, 252.
17 “I suppose you can tell”: Campbell, Blair Years, 635.
18 “from a marketing point of view”: Elisabeth Bumiller, “Bush Aides Set Strategy to Sell Policy on Iraq,” New York Times, September 7, 2002.
19 might be a mushroom cloud: Michael R. Gordon and Judith Miller, “U.S. Says Hussein Intensifies Quest for A-Bomb Parts,” New York Times, September 8, 2002, http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/08/world/threats-responses-iraqis-us-says-hussein-intensifies-quest-for-bomb-parts.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm.