Been trying to puzzle out today's Republican talking point that regime change was Clinton administration policy from 1998. Turns out that's true, but it was due to heavy lobbying from neoconservative circles that Clinton passed the Iraq Liberation Act in 1998. In an older post, Josh Marshall details how the PNAC lobbied heavily and used the Lewinsky imbroglio against Clinton to push for a harder-line Iraq policy. The New York Sun article Marshall links to is worth reading, especially for its juicy Bill Kristol quote:
"It’s really a little bit crackpot. I don’t think Clinton was really following the PNAC script," Mr. Kristol told The New York Sun. "We called for regime change. Last I looked, Saddam was still there when Clinton left. Maybe he got confused," Mr. Kristol said.
But read the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 itself -- the "Clinton administration" official policy on Iraq regime change -- and note Sec. 4(a)(2):
(A) The President is authorized to direct the drawdown of defense articles from the stocks of the Department of Defense, defense services of the Department of Defense, and military education and training for such organizations. (B) The aggregate value (as defined in section 644(m) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961) of assistance provided under this paragraph may not exceed $97,000,000.
Total cost of Iraq war and occupation so far: $100 billion and counting.
Bit of a difference between $97 million and $100+ billion, methinks.