His vision of the Middle East was, however, narrowed by the usual ethnic blinkers (cowardly Arabs, docile Jews), and he ended the war scheming irrelevantly.
He then told me — as he has told others — how he came to learn of a secret war scheme within the Bush Administration, of which Iraq was just one piece.
These pre-war schemes, set up in part to compensate for unusually dangerous or demanding work, allow electricity, gas, railway and metro workers, among others, to retire early on full pensions.
We're talking turf wars, schemes, gossip, passive aggressiveness and dysfunctional leadership.
If all this were not confusing enough, the President has recently offered his "Star Wars" scheme for defending the nation and the world against weapons large and small.
Ronald Reagan hoped to put them into low orbit, but the "Star Wars" scheme, as it was known, would have required legions of satellites costing many billions of dollars.
But this is a no-choice budget". Only $25bn of the $400bn could be described as "transformational", aimed at modernising, he said, and of that $10bn will be spent on the controversial national missile defence "star wars" scheme.
When are you going to introduce PR? Bulkely, Elizabeth Yes, but Mr Bush should be told where to put his son of star wars scheme - are you really happy to accommodate it over here?
The ABL is therefore a son of Ronald Reagan's Star Wars scheme, although in that programme, which dates back to the 1980s, the lasers would have operated from space.There are many advantages to attacking a missile during its boost phase.
Michael Griffin, an aerospace scientist who played a central role in Reagan's Star Wars scheme, is now under secretary of defence for research and engineering in the Trump administration, and has played a leading role in promoting the new missile defence plans.
