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October 6, 2003
Bush's Decision to Invade Iraq Happened Days after September 11th, Despite His Assertions to the ContraryPresident Bush's decision to attack Saddam Hussein was made within days after the September 11th suicide hijackings, even though Bush claimed on the eve of his invasion "the American people can know that every measure has been taken to avoid war."1 Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz has acknowledged that in the first weekend after September 11th "the disagreement was whether [invading Iraq] should be in the immediate response or whether you should concentrate simply on Afghanistan first."2 Privately, the President began making it known in March 2002 that the decision to invade Iraq was a foregone conclusion. In an unscheduled appearance with National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Republican and Democratic Senators, Bush cursed Saddam and vowed, "We're taking him out." Weeks later, Vice President Dick Cheney said to a Senate Republican policy lunch that the question of attacking Iraq was not if, but when.3 The strategy of seeking United Nations approval for the invasion was hatched during an August dinner with Secretary of State Colin Powell at which "the agenda was not whether Iraq, but how."4 Publicly, though, the President continued to mislead the American public, saying the U. N. resolution "does not mean that military action is imminent or unavoidable."5 Sources: 1. Presidential Speech, 3/17/03. 2. Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz Interview with Vanity Fair's Sam Tannenhaus, 5/9/03. 3. "'We're Taking Him Out'",Time.com, 5/5/02. 4. "How It Came To War; When Did Bush Decide That He Had To Fight Saddam?", New Yorker, 3/31/03. 5. Presidential Speech, 10/7/02.  Misleader Archive |
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