Helen Thomas has the clearest explanation I've seen so far of the contradictions in the administration's reaction to Paul O'Neill's comments:
[Bush and Rumsfeld] said they were simply following Clinton's policy of "regime change" in Iraq. The president and his Pentagon chief somehow overlooked the fact that Clinton did not start a war to overthrow Saddam. In my book, that's a big difference.
Thomas's article also has a money quote from Condi Rice, in response to a State Department official's wish to discuss the pros and cons of war on Iraq:
"Save your breath -- the president has already decided what he's going to do on this."Posted by Chris at January 15, 2004 01:08 PM