57th in blog series on the administration push to war. The Christmas holiday season of 2002 sees no abatement of the project, even while a December Los Angeles Times poll shows that most Americans still do not believe that the White House has made the case for war with Iraq.
December 20-31, 2002:

 
 

Dec. 20-21, 2002 – The State Department hosts a ‘Future of Iraq Project’ working group on oil and energy in Washington. The gathering is hosted by the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs in State, where Vice President’s daughter Elizabeth is on board.

Discussions regard “the current state of Iraq’s oil and energy sectors, scenarios for the restoration and modernization of Iraq's oil fields and other essential energy infrastructure; and management of the energy sector to meet the needs of the Iraqi people in the post-Saddam era.”

 
Several Iraqi members of the Working Group later become part of the Iraq government.

 

Dec. 24, 2002 -- The Prime Minister of Niger declares publicly that Niger had not sold uranium to Iraq and had not been approached since he took office in 2000. Niger’s President and Minister of Mines also deny the sale.

 

Dec. 29, 2002 -- Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahad Al Sabah, the Acting Kuwaiti Oil Minister, makes a public statement that Kuwait can keep producing and exporting oil during a war in Iraq. Reassuring the U.S. and the U.K. chiefly, Al Sabah says, “I can't go into details of this plan, but I can guarantee that production will continue, exports will continue...and I believe we can also meet the commitments we have made to our clients abroad.”

 
An effect of these timely utterances, of course, is to undercut pragmatic arguments against the war, such as the possible effect on oil supplies and oil prices.

 

Dec. 31, 2002 – Bush discusses Iraq with reporters in the Coffee Station, Crawford, Texas:

“Q Sir, why should we be more worried about Saddam Hussein, who has no nuclear weapons, than Kim Chong-il, who is unstable and does have nuclear weapons?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, first of all, I think it's important to remember that Saddam Hussein was close to having a nuclear weapon. We don't know whether or not he has a nuclear weapon. We do expect him to disarm his weapons of mass destruction, that's what we expect.        

       Secondly, the international community has been trying to resolve the situation in Iraq through diplomacy for 11 years. And for 11 years, Saddam Hussein has defied the international community. And now we've brought the world together to send a clear signal: we expect him to disarm, to get rid of his weapons of mass destruction. The first step in determining whether or not he will do that was discouraging. His declaration was short. And the international community recognized that, that he wasn't forthcoming.”
     
“Q Sir, can I ask a follow-up?

THE PRESIDENT: Yes.

Q Your budget directors put the possible cost of a war with Iraq at in line with the first Gulf War. Why shouldn't Americans view this possible war as possibly crippling our economy, that's already very slow?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, an attack from Saddam Hussein or a surrogate of Saddam Hussein would cripple our economy. My biggest job and most important job is to protect the security of the American people, and I am going to do that. And I had made the case and will continue to make the case that Saddam Hussein--a Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is a threat to the security of the American people.”

    
Above and beyond the usual level of deception, Bush’s offhand suggestion that the notoriously paranoiac and distrustful Saddam Hussein would arm a “surrogate” with his purported weapons of mass destruction goes unchallenged.