Civil war is a possibility in Iraq, Refereeing in Hell. GIs are dying. Rival factions are turning on each other. After freeing Iraq, can we keep it from coming apart? This line needs a qualifier. Iraq was freed from Saddam Hussein, it has not been freed.

Iraq's neighbors are saying prayers of their own as they watch what's happening next door. They have all had their share of ethnic problems with Kurds and other minorities, but their concern goes deeper than that. When the WMD searches came up empty, Bush aides began claiming that the invasion was actually a way of planting the seeds of democracy in Arab lands. Now the fear is that Iraq's collapse could destabilize the entire region.

Paul O'Neill fell all over himself yesterday backtracking on what he said Sunday on 60 Minutes. Namely these two:

O'Neill said his contention that President George W. Bush came to office fixated on ousting Saddam Hussein was really just a government policy of regime change in Iraq that he inherited from the preceding Bill Clinton administration.

O'Neill said he would probably even vote for Bush in November's presidential election.

But not so fast. Someone else is Corroborating O’Neill’s Account.

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."

So let's be clear. Their attempt to blame this as a continuation of Clinton policy is another lie.



- posted by Mom/Dad @ 8:05 AM