“The biggest blow yet to the occupation in Iraq occurred with an explosion at the United Nations in Baghdad on August 16 [2003]. The blast killed the brilliant and charismatic senior U.N. representative in Baghdad, Sergio Vieira de Mello, who was there to carry out the ‘vital’ role [President] Bush and [U.K. Prime Minister Tony] Blair had called for earlier in the year.”
– Elisabeth Bumiller, Condoleezza Rice: An American Life, Page 221