Chapter 25 Summary and Analysis

Cheney, too, realizes Bush has decided and agrees other nations must be convinced he means business before they will fall in line. The U.S. has too often stirred things up and walked away. The U.S. can least afford to lose Saudi Arabia, home of the two holy mosques fundamentalists insist the King polluted by allowing infidels in during the Gulf War. Remembering the 1990 scenario when he, as Secretary of Defense, had briefed Bandar on war plans and heard Powell, then chairman of the JCS, fear Bandar is "blowing smoke" in promising Saudi cooperation, Cheney invites Bandar to a briefing. The U.S. needs access to the 500-mile Saudi-Iraqi border to launch its attack, as shown on a "TOP SECRET NOFORN" (no foreign eyes) map. Already briefed on covert CIA operations in Iraq, Bandar devises a plausible cover for the...