War in the White House?
By Wolf Blitzer
CNN
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Every administration in Washington always has disagreements and intrigue -- and the Bush administration is no different.
Insiders confirm there has been a running dispute over Iraq policy at the highest levels for some time.
In a nutshell, it pits Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his hawkish allies against Secretary of State Colin Powell and his more dovish ones.
At issue right now, whether President Bush is taking steps to bring order to his team -- with one eye looking ahead to his re-election campaign.
His national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, has been instructed to take greater charge of day-to-day Iraq policy, something that had largely been in the Pentagon's hands.
"It's the normal work of the National Security Council. I'm very familiar with it, having been a national security adviser and deputy and that's all I have to say about it. I don't find it anything ... surprising or shocking," said Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Vice President Dick Cheney, a hardliner on Iraq and a Rumsfeld ally, is not backing down at all from the case for war.
In a speech before a conservative think tank, Cheney said Friday, "Our mission in Iraq is a great undertaking and part of a larger mission that the United States accepted now more than two years ago. September 11, 2001 changed everything for this country."
The New York Daily News quotes Bush sources as saying the president is unhappy with the internal fighting between Rumsfeld and Powell -- and says that's why Rice is now taking over greater responsibility.
White House officials dispute the account but long-time observers say all the bickering must stop quickly -- for the president's sake.
David Gergen, an adviser to four presidents, offered this insight: "What the president needs to do is to disown the story, get his team together, knock heads and get peace in the family. What's going on in Iraq on the ground is far more important than this scuffle."
