Bob Woodward, on Hardball, just said

[Leilani]

that Rumsfeld never advised Bush to go to war in Iraq.

I think that is remarkable! I thought Sec of Def was one of the biggest supporters of this war, but according to Woodward, he did not take a position, & Bush never asked for his position.

According to Woodward, Cheney was the #1 supporter of the war. And that Bush made up his own mind.

Through all this discussion, so many people get blamed for this war, but its time for Bush & Cheney to take FULL responsibility.

[KissMyAsscroft]

1. Gee, and Halliburton is getting the contracts...what a surprise.

I also don't buy what Woodward is selling. Rumsfeld was trying to link 9/11 to Iraq when the Pentagon was still on fire.

No dice Woodward, I don't believe your shit.

[Warpy]

Yeah, but that doesn't mean Chimp consulted him

Sure he was a hawk, but Chimpo's instructions come from god, delivered to him by Timothy LaHaye and Cheney.

[dennis4868]

30. Everyone please remember that....

Woodward's book is the WH's version of what happened....Woodward only interviewed Bush and his thugs to write this book. And we all know that this WH is full of truth tellers, right?

[thebigidea]

2. wha? Don "No good targets in Afghanistan" Rumsfeld?

The Rumsfeld that signed the 1998 PNAC letter to Clinton begging him to take down Saddam?

THAT dove?

Nuh uh.

[Junkdrawer]

3. According to Woodward, it's all Tenet's fault....

According to Woodward, Bush was skeptical, but went along only after Tenet assured him Iraq's having WMDs was a "slam dunk".

According to Woodward, Bush is firmly in charge of the White House,

According to Woodward.

[NashVegas]

6. Ya know

last year, someone, maybe Josh Marshall, was speculating the CIA was setting Bush up for a fall.

[katieforeman]

10. Exactly.

Most of Woodward's reporting seems to be based on his interview with Bush. Now we know why the White House gave him access.

[Junkdrawer]

11. Woodward is either working for Rove or being manipulated by Rove...

or some combination of the above. Since he claims Rove has little influence in major WH decisions (contradicted by just about every insider who has leaked to the press), I lean toward "working for".

The few "scandalous" tidbits he gave are either dirty laundry that was sure to come out anyway, or assertions that would be impossible to prove. Smells like bait to me.

[SayitAintSo]

21. Agree ... "Give 'em the sleeves of your vest ..." approach ....

I smell a rat ... a set up job ...

Reminds me of what Rove did with that author that wrote the tell all book about Bush (cocaine stuff, etc..), and then Rove leaked that discrediting stuff about the author, negating the dirty facts about Bush. Became a non issue ... Woodward is a tool, in more ways than one....

[katieforeman]

26. Yikes! He really said Rove has little influence on WH decisions.

Woodwards probably wrote that because Bush told him something like, "I don't make decisions based on polls." And Woodwards bought it hook, line and sinker. What a shmuck.

[lcooksey]

18. Bush skeptical?

I saw the Washington Post excerpt where Bush seems skeptical after Tenet's presentation on proof of Iraqi WMDs, and Tenet says they're there with his weird "slam dunk" comment. However, a blogger (I think Atrios) points out that this happened after Bush had been making speeches about Iraq's WMDs for several months.

So it's not like Bush was saying that maybe there aren't WMDs. He and Cheney had already made up their minds to invade, they just needed some convincing WMD evidence to show to the news media and the American public.

[Junkdrawer]

23. LOL. That was the word that clued me in....

When I heard "Bush was skeptical, but"... all the bullshit alarms in my head went off at the same time. Quite a racket, actually. ;)

[katieforeman]

27. Exactly.

Skepticism is not part of Bush's character. He believes anything that meets his (or probably Cheney's) pre-concieved ideas and doesn't even listen to anything else.

He just wanted the CIA to put together a better case to convince the public because Saddam Hussein didn't try to kill our daddy's so we didn't understand the importance of getting Hussein.

[dennis4868]

31. But that is just it....

according to Woodward....and Woodward book is based only on his interviews with WH thugs....Meanwhile, we have thw Ron Suskend book that is without question alot more reliable than Woodward's book.....

[stepnw1f]

4. I Could Care Less

if he is lying. What he is saying about this administration is not a positive. If anything this is another chink in the dike.

[jobycom]

5. Of course it was Cheney. Rumsfield went along

During the buildup, there was an obvious split between the different factions. At first Powell and Rumsfield seemed hesitant. Rumsfield fell in. Powell looked for a while like he might split with Bush. He even made a few comments implying such while in Europe (I think). When he jumped behind Bush, it disappointed many around here. We all knew Rumsfield would. We had hopes for Powell.

[acmavm]

7. Well then when do we hear that Dead Eye Dick in no longer going to be

on the ticket?

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. What about the war games?

I thought there was a simulated war game which was rigged to insure an American victory in order to show that the Iraq War was winnable. And I thought Rumsfeld knew about the rigging?

[Tellurian]

9. IIRC...Poppy made a statement just before Bush declared the Iraq War..

He publicly denounced going to War with Iraq..

whether this was just a pr stunt for JR...who knows?

[Malva Zebrina]

12. Makes sense

Cheney appointed himself the Vice presidential nominee, knowing that the Bush was and is, really a stupid idiot, and, was out to get more and more money for his buddies in Halliburton. This was Cheney's mission. To help out the contributing corporations and apparently the deed was done if anyone cares to investigate into who got the lucrative contracts, unchallenged, in Iraq

I am convinced this is the prime motivation.

I am convinced that Bush knows not a damn thing about it, and that is the reason that the both of them, like Bobsey Twins, have to appear and to testify togethter

This type of testimonyh is NEVER accepted by any lawyer worth his sale.

[KC21304]

13. He's on Hannity and Colmes now and

so far is not doing us any favors. Said Kerry was wrong when he said Woodward said there was a deal between Bandar and Bush about oil.

[bluedog]

14. I heard that

said Kerry took that statement and turned it around or something to that effect..I don't trust Woodward...note to Kerry campaign advisor's.if you are reading this DU board I think Kerry is being sit up by this book and it would be very advisable NOT to use anything from his book

[KC21304]

17. Did you hear his explanation about

whether Bush told everyone before Powell ? I have no idea what the heck he said. Made no sense to me.

[GR]

15. Catch This From Tim Noah For A Different Perspective...

In this version, Cheney actually made the decision to go and Bush was reluctant...Rummy was in on the scam too and that's why he altered his web site interview..The Bandar thing was initiated by Bandar because he was worried that Bush wouldn't go and demanded to see Bush to see that he would go...


<http://slate.msn.com/id/2099307/>

[bluedog]

16. do you trust Woodward?

I don't/

[KC21304]

22. Not after what I just saw on Hannity and Colmes.

He is a sly one. Trying to get both sides to buy his book I guess.

[robbedvoter]

19. Oh, yeah? let's go to the videotape (Sept 2002):

10 Page One Washington Post
This is from the middle of the article.

Disarm Iraq Quickly, Bush to Urge U.N.
Failure to Move May Lead to U.S. Action

By Karen DeYoung and Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, September 7, 2002; Page A01


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45187-2002Sep6.html'

Last night, Rumsfeld's office withdrew a 2,300-word article he
had written for the
Outlook section of Sunday's Washington Post, making the case
for preemptive
military action to head off potential threats from weapons of
mass destruction. The
article, under discussion since mid-August, argued that
deterrence, sanctions and
diplomacy might be inadequate against threats from Iraq and
other countries. It
discussed weapons developments in the three countries Bush has
called the "axis
of evil" -- Iraq, Iran and North Korea -- plus Libya and Syria.

Defense officials had said the article would need to be cleared
by the White House.
The article was delivered Tuesday. Rumsfeld approved a final
version shortly before
leaving for Camp David at 4:30 p.m. yesterday. Around 6, a
defense official said
the White House decided the article could not run. But Victoria
Clarke, the chief
Pentagon spokeswoman, said that Rumsfeld himself had changed
his mind
because the timing "was not right."

[Minstrel Boy]

20. "Go massive. Sweep it all up. Things related and not....

Judge whether good enough hit S.H. at same time. Not only UBL."

Rumsfeld's note to self, September 11.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/09/04/september11/main520830.shtml

[robbedvoter]

24. Thank you! I was looking for that in my archives!

Wes Clark testifies to his nonsense as well as heard at Pentagon.
I don't know who was the #1 and who was the #2, and Cheney certainly was giddy with "the permanent War" right after 911 - but why exhonerate Rummy? (maybe since he is now the second "Secretary of State")

[UTUSN]

25. Shrub Has a Mind? n/t

[cap]

28. woodward may be setting up bush...

if bush is the "strong leader" he owns Iraq. He broke Iraq. The fault is his. Other people may have some culpability; but the President is responsible.

Taking ownership of this war is a dangerous tack.

[robbedvoter]

32. yeahhhh...that's the ticket...set-up. Make all his base think he's great,

sell his book to all of them and after getting him elected...booom! yank the rug from after him! That Woodward is a hero! Almost as much as Powell and mcCain! yeay, Woody!

[robbedvoter]

29. How about this recent news: Rummy scrubbing records

The Pentagon deleted from a public transcript a statement Donald H. Rumsfeld made to author Bob Woodward suggesting that the administration gave Saudi Arabia a two-month heads-up that Bush had decided to invade Iraq. At issue was a passage in Woodward's 'Plan of Attack,' an account published this week of Bush's decision making about the war, quoting Rumsfeld as telling Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi ambassador to Washington, in January 2003 that he could 'take that to the bank' that the invasion would happen. The comment came in a key moment in the run-up to the war, when Rumsfeld and other officials were briefing Bandar on a military plan to attack and invade Iraq, and pointing to a top-secret map that showed how the war plan would unfold. The book reports that the meeting with Bandar was held on Jan. 11, 2003, in Vice President Cheney's West Wing office. Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also attended."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28729-2004Apr20.html