Posted on 01/11/2004 8:57:58 AM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
A controversial White House memo outlining plans for a post-war Iraq that was drafted well before the 9/11 attacks had its origins in the Clinton administration, former Bush 41 White House official Bill Kristol said Sunday. In an interview set for broadcast Sunday night, former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill tells CBS's "60 Minutes" that "from the very beginning, there was a conviction [in the Bush White House] that Saddam Hussein was a bad person and that he needed to go." Of White House deliberations on the decision to invade Iraq, O'Neill claims, "It was all about finding a way to do it. That was the tone of it. The president saying, 'Go find me a way to do this.'" O'Neill's comments are bolstered by memos he supplied to author Ronald Suskind, whose new book "The Price of Loyalty" is based on his story. But former White House official Bill Kristol, who now publishes the Weekly Standard, says that a key memo cited by the author that outlines U.S. contingency plans to topple Saddam Hussein goes back to the Clinton administration. "[Suskind] quotes this secret memo: 'Plan for post-Saddam Iraq,' that apparently the Bush administration had in it's first few months," Kristol told "Fox News Sunday." "I'm sure that was left over from the Clinton administration. Of course [the Bush White House] had a plan for post-Saddam Iraq - it's been our policy to have regime change there for three years before the Bush administration." Kristol, who served as chief of staff for former Vice President Dan Quayle, also questioned O'Neill's recollections of Bush's comments, which Suskind claimed are based on "nearly verbatim" transcripts of White House meetings. "I've been in White House meetings. There's no verbatim transcript of such meetings," he told "Fox News Sunday." "People take notes, obviously, for their use later on. [But] I'd like to know, I'd like to see this nearly verbatim transcript of the meeting."
Care to bet whether they overplay the drama like it is the scandal of the century??? This will damage PravdABDNC worse than W!
Pray for W and The Truth
That was a reasonable decision. Saddam kicked out the weapons inspectors and Clinton effectively did nothing to get them back in. The situation was deteriorating and something needed to be done to settle the matter.
Not unusual, but I used to defend O'Neill here on FR as he had been chosen by the Bush team and now I am utterly disgusted by his public comments. I did not recall a "public firing", though it was widely understood he "resigned" at the request of the WH, they NEVER said a bad word about HIM. What a jerk. To refresh my memory of his resignation I did a little googling and this account sums it as it happened nicely. He should have stuck with his resignation letter, for now he's ruined himself:
Markets shudder as O'Neill resigns
By Larry Schlesinger [06-12-2002](<--date is Dec. 12, 2002, this is a British publication, hence the way the date is published)
The surprise decision by US Treasury secretary Paul O'Neill to tender his resignation, along with that of his top economic adviser, has seen world stock markets shed some of their value.
Link: O'Neill backs Brown all the way
O'Neill tendered his resignation today - just ten days ago he visited the UK where he voiced his support for the way Gordon Brown was running the UK economy.
According to CNN, the White House had requested the resignation of O'Neill and Larry Lindsey, the director of the National Economic Council, although the Bush administration has refused to comment directly on this, other than to thank the two men for their service.
In London, the benchmark FTSE 100 fell almost 52 points to 3980, following the announcement, which was made at 2:40pm GMT.
The Dow Jones in New York was down 63 points to 8542 this afternoon, after falling well over 100 points at its opening, while technology index, the NASDAQ, was last down 10 points to 1402.
In his resignation letter to president Bush, O'Neill said: 'It has been a privilege to serve the Nation during these challenging times. I thank you for that opportunity.'
According to reports, he is expected to step down in about three weeks' time after two years in the job.
Unless you're applying for a job at the DNC.
He's just looking to sell his book and probably counting on having his cabinet position restored by the Clark administration. Of course they'll use him up and toss him in the garbage. He'll disappear off the public radar until early in President Bush's second term because he'll have spent the money from his (limited) book sales and need to audition for a job in the '09 Dem administration.
Excuse me, but those trips were done to get America behind the Kosovo bombings I think?
Speaker J. Dennis Hastert’s (R-Ill.) fury last week over a federal board’s denial of loan guarantees to now-bankrupt United Airlines helped seal the abrupt departure of Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill from President Bush’s Cabinet, The Hill has learned.
Hastert intervened with the White House and with O’Neill directly in hopes of trying to rescue the financially beleaguered airline.
........The sequence of events made it evident that the White House took Hastert’s disappointment seriously, a senior House leadership aide said.
http://www.hillnews.com/news/121102/oneill.aspx
It appears that O'Niell is a horses ass and 60 minutes is a leftwing cesspool.
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