Chapter 4, Part 1 Summary

Ahmad Chalabi was the leader of the Iraqi National Congress, a Hussein opposition group. He had presented the Clinton Administration with an overthrow plan in November of 1993. In March 1995, he worked with the C.I.A. to start an insurrection in southern Iraq and seize the oil fields at Basra. The plan failed miserably. After Bush came into office, the Administration gave the impression that Iraq was not a priority, especially when compared to China and Russia. However, the Pentagon's civilian leadership, spearheaded by Paul Wolfowitz, had begun advocating pre-emptive military action against Iraq.

Both Wolfowitz and Richard Perle (chairman of the Defense Policy Board) had close ties to Chalabi. The Pentagon was not in favor of this action. It was also unsure whether to rely on Chalabi's I.N.C., as opposed to other dissident groups. The I.N.C...