Powell warned Bush on Iraq war

Two months before the invasion of Iraq, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell warned President Bush about the potential negative consequences o...

Two months before the invasion of Iraq, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell warned President Bush about the potential negative consequences of a war, citing what Powell privately called the ‘‘you break it, you own it’’ rule of military action, according to a new book.

‘‘You’re sure?’’ Powell is quoted as asking Bush in the Oval Office on January 13, 2003, as the President told him he had made the decision to go forward. ‘‘You understand the consequences,’’ he is said to have stated in a half-question. ‘‘You know you’re going to be owning this place?’’

The book, Plan of Attack, by Bob Woodward of The Washington Post, reconstructs conversations between senior Bush administration officials during the 16-month period of planning and preparation that ended with the attack on Iraq last March.

Story continues below this ad

Powell is described as having clashed in particular with Vice-President Dick Cheney, whom Woodward describes as a ‘‘powerful, steamrolling force’’ advocating the war who was preoccupied with alleged links between Saddam Hussein and the Al Qaeda.

Powell regarded Cheney’s intense focus on Saddam and Al Qaeda as a ‘‘fever’’, the book says, and he believed that the Vice-President misread and exaggerated intelligence about the Iraq threat and alleged terrorist ties. Woodward’s account provoked speculation that Powell might have cooperated with Woodward as the book was being prepared in an effort to distance himself from the Iraq war.

Richard A. Boucher, Powell’s spokesman, declined to comment on the book, saying he had not read it and adding: ‘‘We won’t do book reviews. I promise.’’ Asked if it were true that Powell and Cheney were barely on speaking terms, Boucher said: ‘‘I think that’s not true.’’

But, according to the book, Bush did ask Powell ‘‘Are you with me on this?’’ and told him ‘‘I want you with me.’’ Powell is quoted as having replied: ‘‘I’ll do the best I can. Yes sir, I will support you. I’m with you, Mr President.’’ —(NYT)