USA Today's Judy Keen gets the most detailed White House
response to the Woodward book yet, writing that "a high-
ranking Bush adviser" thinks the book "debunks the idea
that Cheney and Pentagon officials concocted and
exaggerated intelligence" before the war, instead
making "it clear those conclusions came from the CIA."
Keen details the instances in which Administration
officials have refuted portions of Woodward's book - From:
LindyBill
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White House disputes parts of Iraq 'secret history'
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By Judy Keen, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — <font size=4>Bush administration officials are challenging some assertions in a new book that details the "secret history" of preparations for the war with Iraq, especially the idea that Vice President Cheney and Secretary of State Colin Powell barely speak to each other.
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Bob Woodward, investigative reporter and assistant managing editor of The Washington Post.
Tim Hynds, Sioux City Journal
But overall, White House communications director Dan Bartlett said Sunday, "This is a pretty detailed look at the complex process that was underway to bring the issue of Saddam Hussein before the world community and ultimately remove him from power." President Bush has not read the book, aides said. (Related story: Leak drives up sales)
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In Plan of Attack, author Bob Woodward says Bush began preparing for war with Iraq within weeks of the Sept. 11 attacks, was assured by CIA Director George Tenet that there was a "slam-dunk case" that Saddam possessed banned weapons, and spent $700 million on war preparations without Congress' knowledge.
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Woodward, a Washington Post editor who uncovered the Watergate scandal in the Nixon administration, interviewed Bush for nearly four hours and spoke with 75 other officials.
On Nov. 21, 2001, 10 weeks after 9/11, Woodward said Sunday on CBS' 60 Minutes, Bush asked Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld: "What have you got in terms of plans for Iraq? What is the status of the war plan? I want you to get on it. I want you to keep it secret."
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A high-ranking Bush adviser who spoke only if not identified said he thinks the book debunks the idea that Cheney and Pentagon officials concocted and exaggerated intelligence to conclude that Saddam had chemical and biological weapons. Instead, the official said, Woodward makes it clear those conclusions came from the CIA. The official also said the book dispels suggestions that Rumsfeld forced his generals to start the war with fewer troops than military officials said they needed.
But administration officials disputed some parts of the book:<font size=3>
PLAN OF ATTACK
A quick look at what's said about key administration figures in Bob Woodward's book:
President Bush: He was "prepared to risk my presidency to do what I think is right," Bush said, and by January 2003 didn't need to ask his top aides their opinions on whether to go to war. "I could tell what they thought," Bush said.
Vice President Cheney: Even before the Sept. 11 attacks, he was focused on Iraq. During the transition between administrations, he asked outgoing Defense Secretary William Cohen to arrange a briefing with Bush that would be a serious "discussion about Iraq."
Secretary of State Colin Powell: The former Army general warned Bush that if he went to war with Iraq, "you're going to be owning this place." He believed in the "Pottery Barn" rule: "You break it, you own it." Bush did not consult with him before deciding to go to war.
CIA Director George Tenet: "It's a slam-dunk case," he told Bush before the war about the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Later, Tenet told associates he should not have been so emphatic.
National security adviser Condoleezza Rice: "You have to follow through on your threat," she told Bush in January 2003 about his warnings to Iraq to give up weapons of mass destruction. She was the first person Bush told of his decision to go to war.
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•Cheney and Powell are "more than on speaking terms," national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said on Fox News Sunday. Woodward writes that the two have a distant relationship.<font size=3>
Cheney, Woodward writes, was obsessed with ousting Saddam and proving that he had links to al-Qaeda. Powell, Woodward said on CBS, "told colleagues that 'Cheney has a fever. It is an absolute fever.' "
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•Military funding approved by Congress after 9/11 put no restrictions on how it could be spent, and Congress was aware of changes, one of the administration officials said. Woodward says that in July 2002, Bush allowed Army Gen. Tommy Franks to use $700 million that had been authorized for military use in Afghanistan for Iraq-related expenses instead. "Congress was totally in the dark on this," Woodward told CBS.
•Rice denied that Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, was told about the decision to go to war before Powell was. Woodward said on 60 Minutes that Rice and Rumsfeld were told in January 2003, and then they "realized they haven't told Colin Powell."
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In the book, out Monday, Woodward describes Bush praying after giving the order to begin the war. Bush told Woodward he prayed that he would be "as good a messenger of (God's) will as possible."
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