[Matchett-PI]

This commentary just arrived in my email from Laurie Myroie publisher of Iraq News newsletter.

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[PianoMan]

It frightens me that a man of this kind of judgment was in charge of our treasury.

[bcoffey]

Good find! Thanks for the post.

[marron]

I would be disappointed if it turns out that we weren't planning for war in Iraq before 9/11. We were there for a decade sitting on that guy, a decade is more than long enough.

Furthermore, he had bought off several members of the Security Council with contracts that would be useless until sanctions were eliminated, which means that sanctions were on their way out. We were faced with continuing a decade long war until either his allies on the Security Council canceled the sanctions program, or until he died and one of his thirty-something year-old sons took over.

So we were faced with either war without end, or a Saddam emerging from his box with French, German, Russian, and Chinese help at the UN. He would be untouchable at that point.

So it was plain to me that our only hope was too bring him down. I was very afraid we would cut some kind of deal that would leave him in place, or leave the UN with some control over the outcome.

[doug from upland]

Thanks for sharing this. We will pass the word. Make sure Hannity gets it. And Laura Ingraham. And Liddy. And Elder. Etc. Before talk radio, the RATS would just get away with this stuff and it would go unchallenged.

[Cicero]

O'Neill was fired because he shot off his big mouth, repeatedly saying that the Bush tax cuts were useless. (Which not only was politically stupid and disloyal, but untrue.) He just wouldn't shut up, so they had to fire him. Now, he's obviously resentful and trying to get back at Bush.

[doug from upland]

This should be in breaking news. Keep it bumped!!!

[samtheman]

And what are we to make of O'Neill's bigger claims, including that the Iraq war was planned from the first days of the Bush administration (cited by Wesley Clark today to buttress his assertion that there was no need for the war, it was all political)?

That our president understood the dynamics of terrorism even before 9/11?

[Peach]

Thanks for posting this from Laurie Mylroi.

Howlin - you may wish to use your ping list. O'Neill caught in a whopper of a lie.

[Peach]

If this doesn't get much attention tonight, please consider re-posting it tomorrow. I'm sure the Admin. Moderator won't mind if you/we ask nicely!

[Honestfreedom]

This is Bush's fault for putting a guy who was opposed to his agenda in high office. We will probably be seeing similar things from Colin Powell (though not so blatant) after he leaves office and wants to differentiate himself from Bush.

[The Raven]

The Dems got him over to the dark side somehow!!! Could it be money?

[IncPen]

Important ping...

[Brilliant]

The key part of the story is this:

Ron Suskind, author of The Price of Loyalty...

This book was not written by O'Neill. It was written by Suskind. And what does he know? For that matter, what does O'Neill know? He did not even know what was going on in the Treasury Dept., which was his charge. How the heck can he claim to be an authority on the President's Iraq policy?

[DWPittelli]

In late 2000 and early 2001, the Iraqi regime was trying increasingly hard to shoot down US planes enforcing the no-fly zones. That may well have opened up discussion about overthrowing Saddam...

And also remember that the position of the United States, formally voted by Congress in 1998 and backed by Clinton and Gore, was to seek the overthrow of Saddam. It would be absurdly negligent to not even have plans to do the same.

[Always Right]

This guys fifteen minutes will be gone in a few days....

[Lancey Howard]

Indeed, when this story first broke yesterday, the Drudge Report had the Judicial Watch document linked (no one at CBS News saw that, so they could correct the error, when the show aired?)

Pesky facts will never get in the way of the CBS / DNC agenda.

[Maigrey]

I didn't watch, because I knew it was a liberal hitpiece, with slanted facts, biased information, and manipulation for viewers. (In essence, perfect for the Communist Broadcast Society)

[prairiebreeze]

ping Mo1

[PGalt]

Great post. Thanks. I'm in the middle of Laurie Mylroie's The War Against America...very, very good.