WASHINGTON – President Bush’s aides did not forcefully present him with dissenting views from CIA and State and Defense Department officials who warned that U.S.-led forces could face stiff resistance in Iraq, according to three senior administration officials.
Instead, Bush embraced predictions of top administration hawks, beginning with Vice President Dick Cheney, who predicted Iraqis would joyously greet coalition troops as liberators and that the entire conflict might be over in a matter of weeks, the officials said.
Dissenting views “were not fully or energetically communicated to the president,” said one top official, who, like the others, requested anonymity. “As a result, almost every assumption the plan’s based on looks to be wrong.”
Story, via Josh Marshall, who has some thoughts on that “three senior officials” business.