Chapter 23 Summary and Analysis

Rumsfeld's "hide in plain sight," dribbling deployment works, and he holds off big call-ups of reservists until after Christmas. By early December, Franks' Qatar headquarters is operational and he tells reporters "Internal Look" is a routine war game like 1990, 1996, and 2000, when, in fact, it is a test of the Hybrid Plan. Franks sees the southern blitzkrieg must be faster and be more flexible. Cheney calls for a "medical NASA" to research and produce vaccines against WMD and convinces Bush, on December13, to order military personnel and high-risk essential civilians inoculated for smallpox as a precaution against an attack. However, he conceals 20 million doses are set aside to treat coalition allies, if Saddam seeks retribution. Health officials are perplexed by Bush's policy and worry about side effects and liability, but no one can resist Cheney.

Wanting to keep inspections non-confrontational, Blix turns...