O'Neill: Iraq Plans Began at Start of Bush's Term

Fox News ^ | 01.10.04 | N.N.

[Soylent Democrats]

Poor little O'Neill had his ego bruised when the administration let him go for being a gross incompetent. Now, on the eve of Iowa, he will let himself be a pawn for the Jackass party. What an idiotic clown. I wonder if he's any relation to Jim Jeffords?

[Maumee]

Was this the wuss that had the debate with Sheets Byrd about which one knew more about real poverty? Sheesh what a pathetic sound bite that was for the evening news, I believe the President gave him the gong shortly after that foolish exchange.

[Soylent Democrats]

Yes, that was O'Neill in the exchange with former Klansman Byrd (D-WV).

[EGPWS]

Bush acted appropriately in firing his @ss , time to move on and forget O'neill ever existed. There is more important issues to contend with.

[DB]

Actually O'Neill is caught in a contradiction.

He says Bush was not an engaged President while at the same time saying Bush came into office making plans for war...

[Soylent Democrats]

Remarkably true; excellent observation.

[dts32041]

The original response to an attack by Japan in the 30's, if I remember correctly, not with my resources and am at work.

[SandRat]

Uh- huh, and OPLAN ORANGE for the defense of the Pacific that included the shelling of the Japanese home islands was written in 1935 right after FDR won the election. So what's this fired Bush administration official trying to say? That Bush did his job?

[Williams]

Wrong. The prior administration had already tagged Iraq as a WMD threat. Bush's team, besides having their own national security heavyweights (Powell, Rumsfeld, Rice) would have been briefed by the Clintonites and CIA on the way in. Further, there were many reasons for going into Iraq and I'm thinking there are now many reasons to turn left and clean up Syria.

[YaYa123]

"He says Bush was not an engaged President while at the same time saying Bush came into office making plans for war..."

I know, I know...but I bet not one book tour interviewer challenges his logic.

[God luvs America]

Think 60 Minutes will bring up the fact that once the President kicked O'Neill out the door the economy jumped through the roof?

[HardStarboard]

Paul, go back to Africa with your buddy Bono and smoke some good weed.
It might straighten your head out!

[Mentos]

[Guillermo]

Someone post the picture of this idiot traipsing through Africa in his Pajamas...

[Valin]

Former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill (search) contends the United States began laying the groundwork for an invasion of Iraq just days after President Bush took office in January 2001 — more than two years before the start of the U.S.-led war that ousted Saddam Hussein.

I wouldn't be suprised if this were true. In the run-up to the war when all the usual suspects were crying that this was taking us away from the war on terror, a question occured to me. What if the opposite were true? What if 9-11 and the war on terror got in the way of taking out Butcher of Baghdad?

Just some food for thought..

[Valin]

Bush even knew how to spell Al Qaeda.

And you could?

[Susannah]

OPLAN ORANGE for the defense of the Pacific that included the shelling of the Japanese home islands was written in 1935 right after FDR won the election.

Interesting! Makes me wonder why FDR didn't declare war on Japan when they sank our battleship( I think it was the Panay in the Yahtzee River in 1938)- that was an outright act of war and violated all treaties.

If we had gone to war prior to Pearl Harbor, many lives would have been saved during WWII. The last figures I heard for American soldiers during WWII was 400,000 killed and 1,000,000 wounded.

[auboy]

IIRC, O'Neill was once CEO at Alcoa. Guess he's an expert on foil.

[Valin]

Makes me wonder why FDR didn't declare war on Japan when they sank our battleship( I think it was the Panay in the Yahtzee River in 1938)

It was a gunboat not a battleship
/nitpicking

Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-1945
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/PR/PR-5_Panay.html

[TaxRelief]

Do you really think Iraq wasn't engaged in terrorism and WMD's before 9/11? The 100,000 Kurds that Saddam killed with WMD's happened when? 1996? Anyone remember?