Autumn 2001 and after: Senior Official: Bush’s Decision on Iraq Influenced by Other People

The momentum towards a policy of “regime change” in Iraq increases, independent of Bush’s own decisions. “The issue got away from the president,” a senior official later tells the Washington Post. “He wasn’t controlling the tone or the direction” and was influenced by people who “painted him into a corner because Iraq was an albatross around their necks.” [Washington Post, 1/12/2003 Sources: Unnamed senior official]