“Following [neoconservative Douglas] Feith’s call for a war against the occupied Palestinians, [former Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard] Perle, [former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Paul] Wolfowitz, [former Secretary of Defense Donald] Rumsfeld, and a small group of neocons signed a letter to President [Bill] Clinton [on January 26, 1998], pleading with him to make the ouster of Saddam Hussein the ‘aim of American foreign policy’ and to use military force. …Clinton, however, made only a token effort. …But Perle and Wolfowitz soon found a sympathetic ear with [Texas Republican Governor] George W. Bush, and at the start of his candidacy he named them as top advisors to his foreign policy team, then being coordinated by [future National Security Advisor] Condoleezza Rice.”
– James Bamford, A Pretext for War, Pages 281-282