President Bush jokes

Rice claims that the head of the Ministry of Defense answered her calls

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday denied the scandalous information provided by the famous American journalist Bob Woodward in his latest book, State of Denial: Bush at War. In it, the journalist (who made a name for himself back in 1974, when he released recordings of the secret wiretapping of the headquarters of the Democratic Party, which gave rise to the Watergate case) spoke about the morals reigning in the White House under George W. Bush.

According to Woodward, on July 10, 2001, that is, two months before the terrorist attack on the United States, then-CIA Director George Tenet and his counterterrorism assistant Cofer Black tried to convince Ms. Rice (who was then the President's national security adviser) in the reality of the terrorist threat. However, she allegedly dismissed their arguments.

Later, during the US military operation in Iraq (which began in March 2003), Condoleezza Rice, according to the author of the book, fell out with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. The latter allegedly even stopped answering her phone calls. Bush had difficulty getting his defense secretary to answer the secretary of state's calls.

Rice called Bob Woodward's allegations "incomprehensible" and "simply ridiculous." “I don’t know what kind of meeting they are talking about... but what I am completely sure of is that there was no meeting where I was told about an impending attack and I refused to react,” she said she is reporting to journalists on her way to the Middle East.

According to Rice, in the summer of 2001, American intelligence agencies did receive information about a terrorist threat, but it was more about possible attacks on American targets outside the United States. As for telephone conversations with the head of the Pentagon, then, according to Ms. Rice, she had them several times a week.

There are more juicy details in Woodward's book. Thus, he quotes statements by President Bush that clearly indicate his attitude towards his associates. Thus, responding to criticism of US policy in Iraq voiced by influential Republicans, Bush said that “he will not back down, even if only Laura and Barney support him” (wife and Scottish terrier - Ed. ). Woodward also talked about how Bush likes to joke, for example, on the topic of emitting farts. Once, with Bush's knowledge, a toy was placed under the chair of his former adviser Karl Rove, which made a characteristic sound when he sat down. There have been no denials from the White House yet.

Petr ISKENDEROV