An Extremely Abridged History of the George W. Bush Presidency

"I'll talk to the President," Don Rumsfeld said. -- Tommy Franks, was chief of the U.S. Central Command. American Soldier with Malcolm McConnell (Regan Books)

Wait, I Thought You Were Looking for the WMD

Sometime around the end of May [2003], shortly after declaring an end to major combat operations in Iraq, I was with President Bush in the Oval Office when he described a meeting he had recently had with Jerry Bremer and Tommy Franks. The president said he had asked them who was in charge of the hunt for weapons of mass destruction. "They went . . . " the president said, then took his two index fingers and pointed left and right, suggesting that both Bremer and Franks pointed at each other. -- George Tenet, was director of the CIA. At the Center of the Storm: The CIA During America's Time of Crisis with Bill Harlow (Harper)

Valerie Plame Whodunit

"Karl didn't do it," the president reflexively said, referring to his senior adviser and chief political strategist, Karl Rove. The "it" clearly meant disclosing Plame's name to reporters. He was holding on to the armrests and leaning back in his chair behind his desk. He seemed to be in fairly good spirits.

"I know . . . " I began, not realizing the president had more to say.

"He told me he didn't do it," the president continued, cutting me off midsentence.

It was [late September, 2003,] just two months since Bob Novak had written his article outing Plame and quoting two "senior administration officials" as his sources for the leak. Rove had already denied to me that he'd leaked Plame's name, and now I was learning that he had also told the president that he was not involved.

Then the president glanced toward Andy [Card], who had raised his hands above his waist and was now gesturing down with both to indicate to the president that he should keep quiet and stop talking about what was fast becoming a sensitive subject.

"What?" the president said, looking at Andy with a slight hint of irritation in his voice. "That's what Karl told me."

-- Scott McClellan, was White House press secretary. What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception (PublicAffairs)

Iraq Pep Talk

Ambassador Bremer and I sat in on a [secure video conference] with President Bush and the NSC [about the battle of Fallujah in April 2004]. . . . "What do we call this, anyway?" asked Secretary Rumsfeld. "Is this high intensity, low intensity? What?"

Before anyone could answer Rumsfeld's question, President Bush launched into what I considered a kind of confused pep talk regarding both Fallujah and our upcoming southern campaign. "Kick ass!" he said, echoing Colin Powell's tough talk. "If somebody tries to stop the march to democracy, we will seek them out and kill them! . . . Our will is being tested, but we are resolute. We have a better way. Stay strong! Stay the course! Kill them! Be confident! Prevail! We are going to wipe them out! We are not blinking!" -- Ricardo Sanchez, was commander of coalition forces in Iraq. Wiser in Battle: A Soldier's Story with Donald T. Phillips (Harper)

Wanted: A Grateful Iraqi

Meanwhile [in May 2004], we were still grappling with the problem of finding a president and a prime minister who would be both decisive in dealing with the insurgency and acceptable to the major elements of Iraqi society.