by Peter Baker
30 “Nous sommes tous Américains”: It headlined an unsigned editorial published on the front page of Le Monde, September 13, 2001, http://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2007/05/23/nous-sommes-tous-americains_913706_3232.html. The editorial compared the moment of solidarity to when John F. Kennedy went to divided Berlin and declared, “Ich bin ein Berliner.” Having said that, the editorial suggested America to some extent brought the attack on itself because it supported Osama bin Laden and other mujahideen against the Soviets in Afghanistan.
31 NATO for the first time: Article 5 further states that when one member is attacked, the others “will assist” with action, “including the use of armed force.” http://www.nato.int/terrorism/five.htm.
32 Condoleezza Rice cried when she: Meyer, DC Confidential, 197.
33 “We seek your special blessing”: Rumsfeld, Known and Unknown, 351–52.
34 “When I have to give a speech”: George W. Bush, Decision Points, 145.
35 “Defiance is good”: Hughes, Ten Minutes from Normal, 238–70.
36 “May I come with you”: Kirbyjon Caldwell, author interview.
37 “We are here in the middle hour”: George W. Bush, address at Washington National Cathedral, September 14, 2001, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010914-2.html.
38 “What is that?”: Caldwell interview.
39 “You could literally smell”: Ibid.
40 “like walking into hell”: George W. Bush, interview with National Geographic, September 11, 2011, http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/national-geographic-channel/all-videos/ngc-the-president-looks-back/.
41 “look what they’ve done”: Rocco Chierichella, author interview.
42 “They want to hear from”: Rove, Courage and Consequence, 277.
43 “Where are you going?”: Bob Beckwith, interview with CNN, September 2005.
44 “I want you all to know that America”: George W. Bush, remarks to rescue workers in New York, September 14, 2001, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010914-9.html.
45 “This is my son’s badge”: George W. Bush, Decision Points, 148–50.
46 “Put it out”: Fleischer, Taking Heat, 167.
47 “You could tell he was”: Eric Draper, author interview.
48 “I didn’t vote for you”: Keil, “With the President.”
49 renamed the place “Camp Marvin”: George H. W. Bush, All the Best, 648.
50 Rice for once felt: Rice, No Higher Honor, 83.
51 “the place where great powers”: Ibid., 84.
52 10 percent to 50 percent chance: Woodward, Bush at War, 75–85.
53 “No one will understand”: Colin Powell, author interview.
54 “it is not a coalition worth”: Paul Wolfowitz, author interview. See also Graham, By His Own Rules, 290–91.
55 Shelton outlined three military: Shelton, Without Hesitation, 444–45.
56 “But we really need to think”: Ibid.
57 “How many times do I”: Ibid.
58 “I’m so glad you asked”: Ashcroft, Never Again, 141–42.
59 Bush pulled Card aside: Rice, No Higher Honor, 86–87.
60 called Lyzbeth Glick: Dick Cheney, In My Time, 332–34.
61 “Whatever problem Iraq is”: Senior administration official, author interview.
62 “If we go after Saddam”: Woodward, Bush at War, 86–91.
63 “Well, that is imaginative”: Wolfowitz interview.
64 “Bay of Goats”: Eric Edelman, author interview.
65 “We have seen the face of evil”: Rice, No Higher Honor, 86–87.
66 “If you provide sanctuary”: Dick Cheney, Meet the Press, NBC, September 16, 2001.
67 “This crusade, this war”: George W. Bush, remarks to reporters, South Lawn, September 16, 2001, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010916-2.html.
68 “No, we want to do this”: Debra Dunn, author interview.
69 “Is that supposed to be there?”: Laura Bush, Spoken from the Heart, 209–10.
70 “Thanks for coming to work”: Matt Schlapp, author interview.
71 “You were the last person”: Keil, “With the President.” Keil in his piece remembered this encounter taking place on Thursday, September 13, but White House schedules show that the event at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building took place on Monday, September 17. In an e-mail exchange with the author, Keil agreed it must have happened on that Monday.
72 “The purpose of this meeting”: 9/11 Commission Report, 333.
73 “quaking in their boots”: Bob Woodward and Dan Balz, “Combating Terrorism: ‘It Starts Today,’ ” Washington Post, February 1, 2002, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/18/AR2006071800703.html.
74 “I believe Iraq was involved”: Ibid.
75 “I want justice”: George W. Bush, remarks, Pentagon, September 17, 2001, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010917-3.html.
76 “Bushie, you gonna git ’im?”: Gerhart, Perfect Wife, 172.
77 “The language was a little”: Rice, No Higher Honor, 146.
78 “to get control of Bellinger”: Eichenwald, 500 Days, 79–80.
79 if there was even a 10 percent: 9/11 Commission Report, 335–36.
80 no “compelling case” that Iraq: Ibid., 334.
81 Unsatisfied, Bush told Tenet: Suskind, One Percent Doctrine, 23.
82 “I don’t want to quote anyone”: Draper, Dead Certain, 154–55.
83 “Is this news enough”: Gerson interview.
84 exercise called Dark Winter: Dark Winter exercise overview, http://www.upmc-biosecurity.org/website/events/2001_darkwinter/index.html.
85 “What does a biological weapon”: Randall Larsen, e-mail exchange with author. See also Larsen, Our Own Worst Enemy, 1–3, and Wil S. Hylton, “Warning: There’s Not Nearly Enough of This Vaccine to Go Around,” New York Times Magazine, October 30, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/30/magazine/how-ready-are-we-for-bioterrorism.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0.
86 “He was unbelievably”: Tony Blair, Journey, 354.
87 “This is a time to wobble”: Campbell, Blair Years, 573–74.
88 “God dang, what on earth”: Ibid.
89 “I said Arafat is not”: Ibid.
90 “I agree with you, Tony”: Bryan Burrough, Evgenia Peretz, David Rose, and David Wise, “The Path to War,” Vanity Fair, November 2004, http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2004/05/path-to-war200405.
91 “He looked more like”: Daschle, Like No Other Time, 129–31.
92 “Tonight, the United States”: George W. Bush, speech to Congress, September 20, 2001, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010920-8.html.
93 “What do you think, Barty?”: Dan Bartlett, author interview.
94 “I have never felt”: Mike Gerson, author interview. See also Woodward, Bush at War, 109.
95 “Did we get into trouble”: Daschle, Like No Other Time, 129–31.
CHAPTER 9: “THE FIRST BATTLE OF THE WAR”
1 “The whole goal was to keep”: Neil Patel, author interview.
2 Ron Christie, gave him: Christie, Black in the White House, 164–65.
3 “one-man Afghani wrecking”: Saturday Night Live, NBC, October 13, 2001, http://www.hulu.com/watch/200731/saturday-night-live-drew-barrymore.
4 “energy-saving mode”: Saturday Night Live, NBC, May 12, 2001, http://www.hulu.com/watch/274305/saturday-night-live-dick-cheney-cold-opening.
5 “We were all under”: Christie, Black in the White House, 164.
6 “You had brothers, sisters”: Joe Hagin, author interview.
7 White House chef began preparing: Scheib, White House Chef, 268–69.
8 “cover-your-ass kind of”: Dick Cheney, author interview.
9 “It had a huge impact”: Condoleezza Rice, author interview.
10 “anything other than scared”: Tenet,
At the Center of the Storm, 99.
11 “He didn’t bring it all home”: Laura Bush, Spoken from the Heart, 228.
12 “Bush lacked a big organizing”: Frum, Right Man, 274.
13 “Nine-eleven blew him away”: Joe O’Neill, author interview.
14 hitting 90 percent: CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, September 21–22, 2001, http://www.gallup.com/poll/4924/bush-job-approval-highest-gallup-history.aspx. His rating surpassed the previous historic high, held by his father after victory in the Gulf War, by one point.
15 “I think he has a certain level”: Anne Womack, author interview. Womack later married and now goes by Anne Womack Kolton.
16 “How are the bad guys”: Kevin Kellems, author interview.
17 “the country was fundamentally”: Pete Williams, author interview.
18 “In the period after that”: Patel interview.
19 “We’re okay, Don”: Franks, American Soldier, 278–82.
20 “I’m sharper than a frog hair”: Rumsfeld, Known and Unknown, 369.
21 Bush struck aides: Shelton, Without Hesitation, 227–48.
22 “You are not going to find”: Rumsfeld, Known and Unknown, 370–71.
23 “had a solid grasp of the tactical”: Shelton, Without Hesitation, 447–48.
24 He wanted a sense of progression: Myers, Eyes on the Horizon, 180–81.
25 “Mr. President, in about two weeks”: Franks, American Soldier, 278–82.
26 “A large air operation”: Ibid.
27 “This financial action is the first”: Hughes, Ten Minutes from Normal, 261.
28 “Money is the lifeblood”: George W. Bush, remarks announcing financial actions against al-Qaeda and its supporters, September 24, 2001, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010924-4.html.
29 “When justice is done”: Schweizer and Schweizer, Bushes, 517.
30 “I see things this way”: George W. Bush, speech at FBI headquarters, September 25, 2001, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010925-5.html.
31 “If this isn’t good versus evil”: Fleischer, Taking Heat, 34.
32 “I’m not sure you ought to be”: Hughes, Ten Minutes from Normal, 262.
33 “I want you to develop”: Donald Rumsfeld, notes on his day calendar, September 26, 2001. Accessed at http://www.rumsfeld.com. The notes on the calendar are clear, but they conflict with other accounts. Franks, in American Soldier, recalled getting a phone call from Rumsfeld saying the president wanted them to look at Iraq options on November 27, 2001. Richard Myers, the Joint Chiefs chairman, said in an interview that he did not think it happened until November as well since it was unlikely Rumsfeld would have talked with Franks about the Iraq War plan without mentioning it to him too. “I guess it’s possible, but I doubt it,” he said.
34 “No one in the discussions”: Zalmay Khalilzad, author interview.
35 “Dick told me about”: Rumsfeld day calendar. See also George W. Bush, Decision Points, 91–94.
36 “There was a pervasive feeling”: John McLaughlin, author interview.
37 “Why do you think nothing”: Ibid. See also Tenet, At the Center of the Storm, 188.
38 “When Bush got the first”: Ari Fleischer, author interview.
39 “I’m here with Ari”: Hughes, Ten Minutes from Normal, 268–69.
40 “so far this appears to be”: Department of Health and Human Services statement, October 4, 2001, http://archive.hhs.gov/news/press/2001pres/20011004b.html.
41 “There was a real, almost fatalistic”: Dean McGrath, author interview.
42 Oh, by the way: Michael Hayden, author interview.
43 Is there anything else you: Ibid.
44 The average wait: Working draft of NSA inspector general report on surveillance activities, March 24, 2009.
45 “we can do this, but you know”: Hayden interview.
46 “I have some choices here”: Ibid.
47 “everybody looked around”: Dennis Hastert, author interview.
48 David Addington personally drafted: Working draft of inspector general report.
49 Donald Rumsfeld was not informed: Donald Rumsfeld, author interview.
CHAPTER 10: “WE’RE GOING TO LOSE OUR PREY”
1 “Are you cleared for any of this?”: Michael Gerson, author interview.
2 “You can surmise that”: Ronald Kessler, Laura Bush, 140.
3 “On my orders, the United States”: George W. Bush, address to nation, October 7, 2001, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/10/20011007-8.html.
4 “we’re just executing”: John McLaughlin, author interview. See also Woodward, Bush at War, 243–44.
5 “Well, sir, I think it’s all FUBAR”: Richard Armitage, author interview. See also Rice, No Higher Honor, 92.
6 Cheney instructed Libby: Dick Cheney, In My Time, 341–44.
7 “Good morning, Dick”: Rice, No Higher Honor, 101–2.
8 “it’s nice, for a change”: Dick Cheney, speech to Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, October 18, 2001, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/vicepresident/news-speeches/speeches/vp20011018.html.
9 “Feet down, not up”: George W. Bush, Decision Points, 152–53.
10 “may have a nuclear device”: Myers, Eyes on the Horizon, 193.
11 “We have to intensify the hunt”: Ibid.
12 Bush was “deeply affected”: McClellan, What Happened, 111.
13 If it turned left and headed toward: John Ellis, author interview.
14 “The threat going forward”: Dick Cheney, author interview.
15 “You know, Mr. President”: Condoleezza Rice, interview with Bob Woodward, August 19, 2002. White House transcript provided to author. See also Woodward, Bush at War, 256–58.
16 “Is there any qualm”: Woodward, Bush at War, 259.
17 “I just want to make sure”: George W. Bush, Decision Points, 199.
18 “Anybody have any ideas”: Woodward, Bush at War, 261.
19 “We’re going to stay confident”: George W. Bush, Decision Points, 199.
20 “Hardly able to restrain”: White House weekly legislative report, October 5, 2001. Reviewed by author.
21 “I should have pushed Congress”: George W. Bush, Decision Points, 162.
22 “Those bastards are going”: Rice interview with Woodward, transcript provided to author. See also Woodward, Bush at War, 269–71, and Rice, No Higher Honor, 102–3.
23 “Now, you know the order”: Hayden interview.
24 Bush signed it November 2: Shannen W. Coffin (counsel to Dick Cheney) to Patrick Leahy (chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee), letter, August 20, 2007. The letter disclosed the dates the program was reauthorized up to that point. http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/599934 [website is no longer active].
25 “Mr. President, are you going”: Fleischer, Taking Heat, 205.
26 “The ominous word ‘quagmire’ ”: R. W. Apple Jr., “Afghanistan as Vietnam,” New York Times, October 31, 2001, http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/31/international/asia/31ASSE.html.
27 “They don’t get it”: Woodward, Bush at War, 279.
28 “I mean, we were at this”: Sammon, Fighting Back, 240.
29 their “jaws dropped”: Brad Berenson, author interview.
30 “kind of took control”: Ibid.
31 attorney general talked over him: Eichenwald, 500 Days, 151–52.
32 “reserve the authority”: George W. Bush’s order, “Detention, Treatment, and Trial of Certain Non-citizens in the War Against Terrorism,” November 13, 2001, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/11/20011113-27.html.
33 “Don’t worry about it”: Stuart Bowen, author interview.
34 “This is it?”: Ibid.
35 “more like a scan”: Berenson interview.
36 signed it, and handed it back: Bush order, “Detention.”
37 “a real power center”: Berenson interview.
38 “I think it is a mistake”: Donald Rumsfeld to George W. Bush, memo, November 13, 2001, http://library.rumsfeld.com/doclib/sp/288/2001-11-13%20to%20Bush%20re%20Kabul.pdf#search=“kabul.”
39 “Somebody forgot to tell”: Rice, No Higher Honor, 174.
40 “We are seeing a historic”: Hughes, Ten Minutes from Normal, 284–85.
41 “Mr. Vice President, this is the thing”: Suskind, One Percent Doctrine, 61–62.
42 One of the scientists: Peter Baker, “Pakistani Scientist Who Met Bin Laden Failed Polygraphs, Renewing Suspicions,” Washington Post, March 3, 2002.
43 “If there’s a one percent”: Suskind, One Percent Doctrine, 61–62. See also Tenet, At the Center of the Storm, 264–65.
44 “Where do we stand on”: Rumsfeld, Known and Unknown, 427–28.
45 Fewer than a hundred American: Senate Foreign Relations Committee Report, “Tora Bora Revisited: How We Failed to Get Bin Laden and Why It Matters Today,” November 30, 2009, http://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Tora_Bora_Report.pdf. See also Susan B. Glasser, “The Battle of Tora Bora: Secrets, Money, Mistrust,” Washington Post, February 10, 2002.
46 “We’re going to lose our”: Suskind, One Percent Doctrine, 59.
47 commanders estimated that: Senate Foreign Relations Committee Report, “Tora Bora Revisited.”
48 “He was totally disengaged”: Charlie Younger, author interview.
49 That “had a big impact on me”: George W. Bush, Decision Points, 166.
50 “Tommy, what’s this I hear”: Franks, American Soldier, 340–59.
51 “You’ve described an Iraqi force”: Ibid.
52 “We cannot allow weapons”: Ibid.
53 “flawed but necessary”: Kennedy, True Compass, 490.
54 “There was almost a feeling”: Sandy Kress, author interview.
55 “I told the folks at the coffee shop”: George W. Bush, remarks, Boston Latin School, January 8, 2002, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020108-5.html.
56 “The president is in another place”: Kress interview.
57 the president took umbrage: Frum, Right Man, 205–6. He was referring to an article by Elisabeth Bumiller, “When Lobbying, No. 43 Uses a Lighter Touch,” New York Times, December 24, 2001.