The first meeting of President Bush’s National Security Council took place on January 30, 2001. “The conversation turned to Iraq, where a decade after the end of the Gulf War, American forces still enforced two no-fly zones and the United Nations program of sanctions had been terribly corrupted. As [National Security Advisor Condoleezza] Rice put […]
1/30/2001
When the topic of Iraq was brought up at the Bush Administration’s first National Security Council meeting on January 30, 2001, “Without mentioning any threat, [National Security Advisor Condoleezza] Rice asserted that ‘Iraq might be the key to reshaping the entire region.’ According to Secretary of the Treasury Paul O’Neill, who attended the meetings, no […]
1/30/2001
Despite counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke’s suggestions for combating al Qaeda at the Bush Administration’s first National Security Council meeting on January 30, 2001, President Bush was focused elsewhere. ” ‘We’re going to correct the imbalance of the previous [Clinton] administration on the Mideast conflict,’ Bush announced. ‘We’re going to tilt it back toward Israel.’ Bush […]
1/30/2001
On January 30, 2001, “As the [Bush Administration’s first National Security Council] meeting drew to a close, Bush gave out assignments: [Secretary of State Colin] Powell should draw up guidelines for more effective sanctions [against Iraq], [CIA Director George] Tenet should report back on improving intelligence in the country, [Treasury Secretary Paul] O’Neill would investigate […]
1/30/2001
Following the first meeting of the National Security Council on January 30, 2001, Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill said: ” ‘Getting Hussein was now the [Bush] administration’s focus, that much was already clear.’ ” – Ron Suskind, The Price of Loyalty, Page 75 […]
1/30/2001
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 […]
1/30/2001
In the first meeting of the National Security Council on January 30, 2001, CIA Director George Tenet “mentioned that the CIA had received intelligence assessments that Saddam was paying rewards to the families of some suicide bombers on the West Bank and Gaza. He was also selling underpriced oil to Jordan and Syria, creating a […]
1/30/2001
“U.S. and UAE [United Arab Emirates] officials say [9/11 hijacker Ziad] Jarrah was stopped at the airport in Dubai on January 30, 2001, after the CIA notified UAE officials that he would be arriving from Pakistan on his way back to Europe. UAE sources say the CIA wanted to know where he had been in […]
1/30/2001
“On January 30 [2001], [future 9/11 hijacker] Ziad Samir Jarrah, a Lebanese national who had obtained a U.S. visa in Berlin [Germany], was stopped for questioning at Dubai Airport in the United Arab Emirates. The CIA reportedly requested that he be interrogated, but the Agency later denied that.” – Peter Lance, 1000 Years For Revenge, […]
1/30/2001
“We were told by the president [Bush] that the war [in Iraq] was his last choice. But it is now clear that it was always his first preference. His former secretary of the Treasury, Paul O’Neill, confirmed that Iraq was ‘topic A’ at the very first meeting of the Bush National Security Council just ten […]