Bush's Secret War Plan

[Spence]

President Bush secretly ordered a war plan drawn up against Iraq less than two months after U.S. forces attacked Afghanistan and was so worried the decision would cause a furor he did not tell everyone on his national security team, says a new book on his Iraq policy.

Bush feared that if news got out about the Iraq plan as U.S. forces were fighting another conflict, people would think he was too eager for war, journalist Bob Woodward writes in "Plan of Attack," a behind-the-scenes account of the 16 months leading to the Iraq invasion.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the book, which will be available in book stores next week.

"I knew what would happen if people thought we were developing a potential war plan for Iraq," Bush is quoted as telling Woodward. "It was such a high-stakes moment and ... it would look like that I was anxious to go to war. And I'm not anxious to go to war."

Bush and his aides have denied accusations they were preoccupied with Iraq at the cost of paying attention to the al-Qaida terrorist threat before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. A commission investigating the attacks just concluded several weeks of extraordinary public testimony from high-ranking government officials. One of them, former counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke, charged the Bush administration's determination to invade Iraq undermined the war on terror.

Woodward's account fleshes out the degree to which some members of the administration, particularly Vice President Dick Cheney, were focused on Saddam Hussein from the onset of Bush's presidency and even after the terrorist attacks made the destruction of al-Qaida the top priority.

Woodward says Bush pulled Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld aside Nov. 21, 2001 - when U.S. forces and allies were in control of about half of Afghanistan - and asked him what kind of war plan he had on Iraq. When Rumsfeld said it was outdated, Bush told him to get started on a fresh one.

The book says Bush told Rumsfeld to keep quiet about it and when the defense secretary asked to bring CIA Director George Tenet into the planning at some point, the president said not to do so yet.

Even Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, was apparently not fully briefed. Woodward said Bush told her that morning he was having Rumsfeld work on Iraq but did not give details.

In an interview two years later, Bush told Woodward that if the news had leaked, it would have caused "enormous international angst and domestic speculation."

The Bush administration's drive toward war with Iraq raised an international furor anyway, alienating long-time allies who did not believe the White House had made a sufficient case against Saddam. Saddam was toppled a year ago and taken into custody last December. But the central figure of al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden, remains at large and a threat to the west.

The book says Gen. Tommy Franks, who was in charge of the Afghan war as head of Central Command, uttered a string of obscenities when the Pentagon told him to come up with an Iraq war plan in the midst of fighting another conflict.

Source

[camasterton]

Good to see the President planned for an action which has and will improve the lives of millions.

[Spence]

Hmmm. Those millions don't seem too grateful, do they?

[camasterton]

Your right, Those who support terrorism don't.

[Yudolindo]

Bush had Iraq on double secret probation.

I would agree with Cam on this: millions of our tax dollars go to people who sit around and think of ways we win wars against countries you would never dream would ever be a threat. It’s good to keep them busy with something somewhat realistic for once.

[akhhorus]

Originally Posted by Yudolindo

Bush had Iraq on double secret probation.

So did Bush put Neidermeyer on it?

[Spence]

Originally Posted by camasterton

Your right, Those who support terrorism don't.

That's priceless. Anyone who opposes the occupation of their country is a terrorist? Cam, you'd have fit in fine with the British Empire in North America, circa 1778.

Originally Posted by camasterton

Good to see the President planned for an action which has and will improve the lives of millions.

I am glad the prezeldent cares more about Iraqis than US citizens. Right in the middle of the war to protect American, he took time out to plan an action to improve the lives of millions Iraqis.

[BigCountry]

Well if you actually leave some alive, you might as well.

[Yudolindo]

Originally Posted by BigCountry

Well if you actually leave some alive, you might as well.

....

[RedskinsFanInTX]

Originally Posted by DC_Cowboys

I am glad the prezeldent cares more about Iraqis than US citizens. Right in the middle of the war to protect American, he took time out to plan an action to improve the lives of millions Iraqis.

So, are you saying the US would be better off with Sadam in power?

[Skins57]

Originally Posted by RedskinsFanInTX

So, are you saying the US would be better off with Sadam in power?

Nope, I say the US would be better off if Al Gore was in power

[Booser]

ok, yet another instance of the media's selective reporting. guess how many countries we have war plans drawn up against right now? a ton. the military is still set up, theoretically, to fight a simultaneous, two theater war (like Iraq and North Korea, for example). whether we could pull it up is another debate, but the point is, there are people in the military whose ENTIRE job is to formulate and revise plans of action against other countries on the strategic and tactical level. there is even a cycle upon which the revisions have to be made to keep them up to date. i laugh when people point to Bush's rendering of a plan of action against Iraq as an instance of warmongering. the truth is, if your security clearance was high enough, you could look at the plans drawn up against N.Korea, Iran, China, and any number of other hypothetical enemies. but, woodard has a book to sell, so he better make it sound sinister.....

[twobits]

Originally Posted by Skins57

Nope, I say the US would be better off if Al Gore was in power

tell me this is a miss print,no one in their right mind would want AL "save the trees "GORE in any position of power.I won"t be able to sleep tonight just thinking about that horror.

Originally Posted by RedskinsFanInTX

So, are you saying the US would be better off with Sadam in power?

Nupe, I am saying Saddam is inconsequential to the US. Capture or elimintae Bin Laden should be the prime objective.