Chapter 4, Part 2 Summary

In spring 2002, the Bush administration was split on what to do about Iraq. It was agreed that Saddam should be overthrown, but how? Bush gave April as a deadline for all to come up with a compromise plan. There were many unknowns: how would the Iraqis respond under attack, how many U.S. troops would be needed, and who would replace Saddam? The National Security Council and Joint Chiefs of Staff preliminary planning was marginal. The rift between the Pentagon and State Department widened. The Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Near East and South Asian Affairs, William Luti, was seen as being obsessed with the overthrow of Saddam. The N.S.C., under Condoleezza Rice, was usually the organization striving to bring these sides together, but it had been wracked by a series of resignations and re-assignments. Those issues left...