by Peter Baker
25 “gotten pretty well pummeled”: Notes of meeting by participant, provided to author.
26 suffered a series of strokes: “Bushes Mourn Death of Their Dog Spot,” New York Times, February 22, 2004, http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/22/us/bushes-mourn-death-of-their-dog-spot.html.
27 “encircling her in the chill dusk”: Laura Bush, Spoken from the Heart, 299.
28 “We don’t negotiate with evil”: Glenn Kessler, “Impact from the Shadows: Cheney Wields Power with Few Fingerprints,” Washington Post, October 4, 2004.
29 He met with Bush: Chinoy, Meltdown, 203–7.
30 “The vice president feels very strongly”: Richard Armitage, author interview.
31 “That’s what we want”: Michael Green, author interview.
32 “Diplomacy in the Bush administration”: Chinoy, Meltdown, 136.
33 “Busy last night, huh?”: DeYoung, Soldier, 499–500.
34 “The diplomats, whether they”: Stephen Yates, author interview.
35 reauthorized twenty-two times: Shannen W. Coffin (counsel to Dick Cheney) to Patrick Leahy, August 20, 2007, http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/5999341. The letter listed all the dates of reauthorization up to that point.
36 the “scary memos”: Unclassified Report on the President’s Surveillance Program, prepared by the inspectors general of the Defense Department, Justice Department, Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, and Office of the Director of National Intelligence, July 10, 2009, 9, http://www.fas.org/irp/eprint/psp.pdf.
37 Under this part of the program: Working draft of NSA inspector general report on surveillance activities, March 24, 2009.
38 “If you rule that way”: Goldsmith, Terror Presidency, 71.
39 “We’re going to push and push”: Ibid., 126.
40 “We’re one bomb away from”: Ibid., 181.
41 “The president may have to”: Unclassified Report on the President’s Surveillance Program, 22.
42 “How can you possibly”: Gellman, Angler, 295–96.
43 “critically important”: Unclassified Report on the President’s Surveillance Program, 23.
44 “The analysis is flawed”: Gellman, Angler, 295–96.
45 “We think it is essential”: Michael Hayden, author interview.
46 “You ought to get yourself”: Ibid.
47 “None of them says”: Ibid.
48 According to Card: Andy Card, unpublished interview with Michael Schmidt of the New York Times.
49 Comey did not wait for: James Comey, testimony to Senate Judiciary Committee, May 15, 2007, http://gulcfac.typepad.com/georgetown_university_law/files/comey.transcript.pdf.
50 “Not well”: Unclassified Report on the President’s Surveillance Program, 25.
51 “But that doesn’t matter”: Comey testimony.
52 “We said, ‘Hope you are doing better’ ”: Card, unpublished interview.
53 stuck her tongue out at Card: Dan Eggen and Peter Baker, “New Book Details Cheney Lawyer’s Efforts to Expand Executive Power,” Washington Post, September 5, 2007, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/04/AR2007090402292.html. See also Goldsmith, Terror Presidency.
54 “AG in chair; is feeble”: Robert Mueller, notes taken at the time and released three years later to Congress.
55 One of the lawyers quietly: Edward Whelan, who was Jack Goldsmith’s deputy, sent a message via his BlackBerry to Brett Kavanaugh, a friend working in the White House. Kavanaugh took it to Andy Card. Barton Gellman, Angler, 302–7.
56 Addington retyped the order: Ibid., 311–13.
57 terrorists set off ten bombs: Elaine Sciolino, “Spain Struggles to Absorb Worst Terrorist Attack in Its History,” New York Times, March 11, 2004, http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/11/international/europe/11CND-TRAI.html?pagewanted=all. The casualty figures cited in this story were later updated. See “Spain to Mark Eighth Anniversary of Madrid Train Bombings,” CNN, March 11, 2012, http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/10/world/europe/madrid-bombing-anniversary/index.html.
58 “forced to withdraw the FBI”: Unclassified Report on the President’s Surveillance Program, 27.
59 “I was stunned,” Bush said: George W. Bush, Decision Points, 173–74.
60 “I just don’t understand”: Ibid.
61 “I was about to witness”: Ibid.
62 One Justice Department official: Justice Department official, author interview.
63 “I had little patience”: Dick Cheney, In My Time, 348–52.
64 Cheney blocked a move to make: Comey testimony.
65 “Listen, I’ve been involved in”: Campaign adviser, author interview.
66 “Cheney would be the attack”: McClellan, What Happened, 137.
67 “I actually did vote for”: Richard W. Stevenson and Adam Nagourney, “Bush’s Campaign Emphasizes Role of Leader in War,” New York Times, March 17, 2004. Kerry later compounded the problem with a tortured explanation. “It just was a very inarticulate way of saying something, and I had one of those inarticulate moments late in the evening when I was dead tired in the primaries and I didn’t say something very clearly,” he told ABC News. See John Kerry, interview with ABC News, transcript, September 29, 2004, http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2004/story?id=123445&page=1#.UZgaQZV4W0t. He may have been dead tired, but it was not “late in the evening.” The speech was at 1:20 in the afternoon. See “Kerry Discusses $87 Billion Comment,” CNN, September 30, 2004, http://articles.cnn.com/2004-09-30/politics/kerry.comment_1_kerry-campaign-spokesman-inarticulate-moments-bush-campaign?_s=PM:ALLPOLITICS.
68 Game, set, and match: Mark McKinnon, author interview.
69 “When I saw that”: Cheney interview.
70 “Those weapons of mass”: George W. Bush, address to Radio and Television Correspondents Association dinner, March 24, 2004, http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/TelevisionCorresp.
71 “Dick has not been the asset”: DeFrank, Write It When I’m Gone, 195–98. DeFrank covered Ford from his days as vice president and had regular conversations in his retirement that, as the title implies, the former president insisted remain off the record until his death.
72 “Where is Bush? Let him come”: Jeffrey Gettleman, “Enraged Mob in Falluja Kills 4 American Contractors,” New York Times, March 31, 2004, http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/31/international/worldspecial/31CND-IRAQ.html?pagewanted=all.
73 “We ought to probably let”: Rajiv Chandrasekaran, “Key General Criticizes April Attack in Fallujah,” Washington Post, September 13, 2004.
74 Bremer also favored a strong: Jerry Bremer, author interview. See also Bremer, Year in Iraq, 317. Bremer wrote that he told Rick Sanchez the morning after the contractors were killed: “We’ve got to react to this outrage or the enemy will conclude we’re irresolute.”
75 “No, we’ve got to attack”: Sanchez, Wiser in Battle, 332–33.
76 “Military commanders decide”: Donald Rumsfeld, author interview. In his book, Rumsfeld made no mention of opposition by the marines to opening the assault on Fallujah or to any role by Washington in making the decision. Bush in his memoir made no mention of the April offensive in Fallujah.
77 “At the end of this campaign”: Sanchez, Wiser in Battle, 349–50.
78 “Kick ass!” Sanchez recalled: Ibid. Jerry Bremer’s description of the scene was more sedate. According to his notes, Bush said, “We need to be tougher than hell now. The American people want to know we’re going after the bad guys. We need to get on the offensive and stay on the offensive.” Bremer interview. See also Bremer, My Year in Iraq, 331–32.
79 “The vice president was pretty adamant”: Official participant, author interview.
80 “If you are going to take Vienna”: Cloud and Jaffe, Fourth Star, 152–53. Mattis was referring to the famous quotation from Napoleon Bonaparte: “When you set out to take Vienna, take Vienna.” A spokeswoman for Mattis confirmed the quotation in an e-mail exchange with the author.
81 “Let me say again”: John Abiza
id, author interview.
82 “We certainly increased the level”: Chandrasekaran, “Key General Criticizes April Attack in Fallujah.”
83 “a strategic disaster for America’s”: Sanchez, Wiser in Battle, 369–71.
84 “I wish you would have given”: George W. Bush, news conference, April 13, 2004, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2004/04/20040413-20.html.
85 Come on, sir, this one is: McClellan, What Happened, 205.
86 “I kept thinking about what”: Ibid., 207.
87 “How would you answer”: Adam Levine, author interview.
88 “the guy being burned”: Tenet, At the Center of the Storm, 479–81.
89 “Andy, I’m calling to tell you”: Ibid., 479–81.
90 “My immediate suspicion”: Philip Zelikow, author interview.
91 “a way of diluting”: Timothy Roemer, author interview.
92 “This is the Oval Office”: There is a conflict about which commissioner was at risk of going over his time. In their book, Without Precedent, Tom Kean and Lee Hamilton identify him as Richard Ben-Veniste (pp. 207–10). But in his own book, The Emperor’s New Clothes, Ben-Veniste says it was Timothy Roemer (p. 299), as does Philip Shenon in his account in The Commission (pp. 342–45). In an interview with the author, Roemer said he believed it was him.
93 “Every time we asked”: Roemer interview.
94 “I just think it was the fog of war”: Cheney interview.
95 “The vice president isn’t interested”: Ben-Veniste, Emperor’s New Clothes, 304.
96 “The commissioners go in”: Zelikow interview.
CHAPTER 18: “WHEN ARE WE GOING TO FIRE SOMEBODY?”
1 “This is going to kill us”: Goldsmith, Terror Presidency, 141.
2 60 Minutes II aired photographs: “Army Probes POW Abuse,” 60 Minutes II, CBS, April 28, 2004, http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=614704n.
3 “I had no idea how graphic”: George W. Bush, Decision Points, 88–89.
4 Investigators found a broad pattern: Article 15-6 Investigation of the 800th Military Police Brigade, led by Major General Antonio M. Taguba, http://news.findlaw.com/wsj/docs/iraq/tagubarpt.html.
5 “Read this,” the secretary: Sammon, Strategery, 44–45.
6 “Mr. President, I want you to know”: Donald Rumsfeld to George W. Bush, handwritten letter, May 5, 2003. Accessed at http://www.rumsfeld.com.
7 “Don, someone’s head has to”: Rumsfeld, Known and Unknown, 545–47.
8 “Pretty smooth move”: Dan Bartlett, author interview.
9 “I don’t accept your”: Rumsfeld, Known and Unknown, 545–47.
10 “I just don’t want to put more”: Latimer, Speech-Less, 96.
11 “You’d be firing the wrong guy”: Myers, Eyes on the Horizon, 262.
12 “We have a predicament here”: Bartlett interview.
13 Bartlett called Larry Di Rita: Bartlett and Larry Di Rita, author interviews. See also Graham, By His Own Rules, 464–67.
14 “front-page headline”: Robin Wright and Bradley Graham, “Bush Privately Chides Rumsfeld,” Washington Post, May 6, 2004.
15 This was your work?: Bartlett interview.
16 “Don, it was not Karl”: Senior administration official, author interview.
17 “Certainly since this firestorm”: Donald Rumsfeld, testimony before Senate Armed Services Committee, May 7, 2003, Federal News Service transcript.
18 “What’s he doing?”: Di Rita interview.
19 “Rumsfeld has got to be fired”: Matthew Dowd, author interview.
20 had other duties to attend to: Stewart, Tangled Webs, 198–200.
21 “By this letter I am resigning”: Donald Rumsfeld to George W. Bush, handwritten letter, May 9, 2003. Accessed at http://www.rumsfeld.com.
22 “Mr. President, the Department”: Rumsfeld, Known and Unknown, 550–51.
23 “You are courageously”: George W. Bush, remarks to reporters, Pentagon, May 10, 2003, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2004/05/20040510-3.html.
24 “Don, thirty-five years ago”: Rumsfeld, Known and Unknown, 550–51. See also Dick Cheney, In My Time, 420–21.
25 “It was like a body blow”: Donald Rumsfeld, author interview.
26 “The pictures made me sick”: Notes of meeting with President José Eduardo dos Santos of Angola, taken by White House official, May 12, 2004, provided to author.
27 “As I said at the beginning”: Colin Powell, author interview.
28 “We are heroes in error”: Jack Fairweather and Anton La Guardia, “Chalabi Stands By Faulty Intelligence That Toppled Saddam’s Regime,” Telegraph, February 19, 2004, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1454831/Chalabi-stands-by-faulty-intelligence-that-toppled-Saddams-regime.html.
29 Bush was “really frosted”: Bremer, My Year in Iraq, 290–91.
30 “That statement finished him”: Richard Perle, author interview.
31 “What the hell is this?”: Bonin, Arrows of the Night, 236–42. See also Tenet, At the Center of the Storm, 445–46.
32 “I’d control Baghdad”: Bremer, My Year in Iraq, 356–58.
33 “What are we going to do”: Sanchez, Wiser in Battle, 1–4.
34 “I was not pleased”: Rumsfeld, Known and Unknown, 661–62.
35 “We never connected it up”: Stephen Hadley, author interview.
36 “It’s time for me to go”: Tenet, At the Center of the Storm, 483–84.
37 “He’s been a strong leader”: George W. Bush, statement to reporters, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2004/06/20040603-2.html.
38 “For him to quit when”: Dick Cheney, In My Time, 412–16.
39 “fortitude for the job”: Goldsmith, Terror Presidency, 161.
40 McKinnon arranged a peace: Peter Baker, “Alliance and Rivalry Link Bush, McCain,” Washington Post, April 29, 2007.
41 “some unspoken bond”: Ibid.
42 “You are as big a terrorist”: George W. Bush, Decision Points, 357–58.
43 “changed his reasons for being”: David Henson, “Bush, Sheehans Share Moments,” Vacaville (Calif.) Reporter, June 24, 2004.
44 “Fuck yourself”: Helen Dewar and Dana Milbank, “Cheney Dismisses Critic with Obscenity,” Washington Post, June 25, 2004.
45 “Did you say that”: Liz Cheney, author interview.
46 “You’re about the only”: Steve Schmidt, author interview.
47 “It was probably not language”: Dick Cheney, In My Time, 262.
48 “I have no financial interest”: Dick Cheney, Meet the Press, NBC, September 14, 2003, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3080244/ns/meet_the_press/t/transcript-sept/#.T2qjLXgjj-A.
49 received $1.6 million: Annenberg Public Policy Center’s FactCheck.org, “Kerry Ad Falsely Accuses Cheney on Halliburton,” September 30, 2004, http://www.factcheck.org/kerry_ad_falsely_accuses_cheney_on_halliburton.html.
50 “Cheney doesn’t gain financially”: Ibid.
51 “found no evidence of”: Gellman, Angler, 389.
52 “If Rove said he didn’t”: Stewart, Tangled Webs, 201–2.
53 the court overturned a lower: Cheney v. United States District Court for the District of Columbia, June 24, 2004, http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/search/display.html?terms=cheney&url=/supct/html/03-475.ZS.html.
54 “We have long since made”: Sandra Day O’Connor, Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, June 28, 2004, http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/03-6696.ZO.html.
55 “Iraq is sovereign”: Condoleezza Rice to George W. Bush, note, June 28, 2004, http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Iraq-sovereign.jpg.
56 Bush, worried about: Bremer, My Year in Iraq, 384.
57 had no substantive meeting: George Casey, author interview.
58 Karl Rove had assumed: Thomas and the Staff of Newsweek, Election 2004, 82.
59 “He’s being described”: George W. Bush, remarks to reporters, July 7, 2004, http://georgewbush-
whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2004/07/20040707-3.html.
60 “Governor, this is not true”: Shenon, Commission, 411–12.
61 The Senate report found: Report of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, http://web.mit.edu/simsong/www/iraqreport2-textunder.pdf.
62 The 9/11 Commission spread blame: 9/11 Commission Report.
63 “Senator Kerry has also said”: Dick Cheney, speech at Dayton, Ohio, convention center, August 12, 2004, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2004/08/20040812-3.html.
64 “I need to know what do”: Dick Cheney, town hall meeting, Davenport, Iowa, August 24, 2004, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2004/08/20040824-4.html.
65 fell nineteen votes short: Called the Federal Marriage Amendment, the proposed text read, “Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any State, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman.” http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c108:S.J.RES.40:. Sponsored by Senator Wayne Allard, a Colorado Republican, it was defeated 50 to 48 on July 14, 2004, falling nineteen votes short of the two-thirds supermajority required. http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=108&session=2&vote=00155.
66 “My own preference is as I’ve”: Cheney, town hall meeting. Oddly, the official White House transcript abruptly cut off Cheney’s sentence at “my own pre—,” omitting the part where he disagreed with Bush. The transcript then continued with more questions. The rest of the quotation cited here is from a transcript prepared by the Federal News Service.
67 “We were all proud of him”: Neil Patel, author interview.
68 “They were pretty good”: Cheney interview.
69 Bush went to Hagin’s hotel room: Joe Hagin, author interview.
70 “The situation on the ground”: Gordon and Trainor, Endgame, 106.
71 “Senator Kerry’s liveliest”: Dick Cheney, acceptance address at Republican National Convention, September 1, 2004, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2004/09/20040901-7.html.
72 Gillespie suggested: Gillespie, Winning Right, 29.