Rice, Answering McClellan Book, Says Saddam Threat Was Known

By Janine Zacharia

May 29 (Bloomberg) -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the Bush administration's decision to push for Saddam Hussein's overthrow in 2003 was rooted in a belief, shared throughout the world, that he was a threat.

Rice defended the U.S. decision to invade Iraq after former White House press secretary Scott McClellan wrote in his memoir that President George W. Bush manipulated public opinion through a ``political propaganda campaign'' to justify going to war.

``I'm not going to comment on a book that I haven't read but I will say that the concerns about weapons of mass destruction in Saddam Hussein's Iraq were the fundamental reason for tens, for dozens of resolutions within the Security Council from the time Saddam Hussein was expelled from Kuwait in 1991 up until 2003,'' Rice said in Stockholm today after meeting Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt.

``It was not the United States of America alone that believed he had weapons of mass destruction, that he was hiding weapons of mass destruction, that led him to throw inspectors out,'' Rice added, referring to United Nations weapons experts.

Rice is the most senior member of the administration to respond publicly to McClellan's memoir, ``What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception.'' The book adds to the record of critical examinations of Bush and his administration as the president nears the end of his term. It also will bolster Democratic and Republican opponents of the war.

Bush was ``surprised'' and ``disappointed'' by the tone of the book, his spokeswoman, Dana Perino, said yesterday after copies were obtained by news organizations. The memoir will be sold in bookstores next week.

Rice, who is in Stockholm to take part in a UN-sponsored conference on the future of Iraq, said the threat from Hussein ``was well understood.''

``You can agree or disagree about the decision to liberate Iraq in 2003,'' Rice said. Given the sanctions that were imposed on Iraq, she added, ``I would really ask do people really believe that he was not a threat to the international community?''

McClellan was Bush's press secretary from July 2003 to April 2006. He was previously deputy press secretary.

To contact the reporter on this story: Janine Zacharia in Stockholm at jzacharia@bloomberg.net .

Last Updated: May 29, 2008 04:07 EDT

		Email this article Printer friendly format