CHAPTER 20
The information in this chapter comes primarily from background interviews with 11 firsthand sources.
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Bush later told me: Interview with President George W. Bush, May 20, 2008.How did you pick Gates: Ibid.
The colonels eventually pieced together slides: According to the notes of a participant.
On Sunday, November 5, Bush welcomed Gates: Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Jim Rutenberg, "Rumsfeld Resigns; Bush Vows 'to Find Common Ground'; Focus Is on Virginia," The New York Times, November 9, 2006, p. A1.
"He worked in, you know": Interview with President George W. Bush, May 20, 2008.
They debated a list: According to the notes of a participant.
On November 6, the day before: "Rumsfeld's Memo of Options for Iraq War," The New York Times, p. A28.
Contents confirmed by a knowledgeable administration source in 2008.
When I asked the president two years later: Interview with President George W. Bush, May 20, 2008.
In a five-page SECRET memo: Michael Gordon, "Bush Adviser's Memo Cites Doubts About Iraqi Leader," The New York Times, November 29, 2006, p. A1; "Text of the National Security Adviser's Memorandum on the Political Situation in Iraq," The New York Times, November 29, 2006, p. A19. Contents confirmed by a knowledgeable administration source in 2008.
Hadley dispatched a SECRET memo: SECRET document dated November 11, 2006, and declassified by the White House in 2008 in response to specific questions asked by the author.