“At 2:15 PM on January 10 [2003], [President] Bush and [Vice President Dick] Cheney met privately with three leading Iraqi dissidents [director of a foundation promoting human rights Rend Francke, a doctor from Tikrit Hatem Mukhlis, and author Kanan Makiya] in the Oval Office. The president was blunt….’I believe Saddam Hussein is a threat to America and to the neighborhood,’ he said. ‘He should disarm but he won’t, therefore we will remove him from power. We can’t make him change his heart. …We’re planning for the worst,’ Bush said. ‘People will greet troops with flowers and sweets,’ one [of the three dissidents] said.” Bush added, ” ‘Maybe one year from now we will be toasting victory and talking about the transition to freedom.’ ”
– Bob Woodward, Plan of Attack, Pages 258-260