By the end of the first National Security Council meeting on January 30, 2001, focus had shifted from the Arab-Israeli conflict to Iraq. President “Bush had assignments for everyone. [Secretary of State Colin] Powell and his team would look to draw up a new sanctions regime. [Secretary of Defense Donald] Rumsfeld and [Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Hugh] Shelton, he said, ‘should examine our military options.’ That included rebuilding the military coalition from the 1991 Gulf War, examining ‘how it might look’ to use U.S. ground forces in the north and the south of Iraq and how the armed forces could support groups inside the country who could help challenge Saddam Hussein. [CIA Director George] Tenet would report on improving our current intelligence. [Treasury Secretary Paul] O’Neill would investigate how to financially squeeze the regime.”
– Ron Suskind, The Price of Loyalty, Page 75