Timeline
January 2000
"Curveball" is debriefed by German intelligence. His handlers will later tell the the Los Angeles Times that his information was "often vague, mostly secondhand and impossible to confirm." One senior official adds, "This was not substantial evidence.... We made clear we could not verify the things he said."
US agents in Germany never did a background check on Curveball, nor did they debrief him themselves until a year after the invasion. Nonetheless, President Bush and other senior US officials will cite his claims repeatedly in the run-up to the war.
January 26, 2000
During a presidential debate, George W. Bush opposes taking oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and says President Clinton should intead "jawbone" oil-producing nations. Crude oil prices are $28 a barrel.
October 3, 2000
In a presidential debate with Vice President Al Gore, George W. Bush says, "The Vice President believes in nation building. I would be very careful about using our troops as nation builders." He added that the US military was already "overextended in too many places," and ought to be used to "prevent war from happening in the first place." In the same campaign, VP candidate Cheney says the US stopped short of toppling Saddam Hussein, in 1991, so as to avoid being "an imperialist power, willy-nilly moving into capitals in that part of the world, taking down governments."
November 6, 2000
Congress designates $25 million for "programs benefiting the Iraqi people," mandating that at least $12 million of the funding be administered by Ahmed Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress.
November 7, 2000
November 8, 2000
Around 2:15 a.m., the major networks call Florida and the election for Bush. Gore calls Bush to concede. Less than an hour later, Gore hears that Bush's lead in Florida has shrunk to only a few thousand votes. Gore calls Bush to retract his concession. Bush tells Gore that Bush's brother, Florida Governor Jeb Bush, has assured him that he has won Florida. "Your younger brother is not the ultimate authority on this," Gore replies. By 4:15 am, major networks retract the call for Bush, and the world is introduced to chads, butterfly ballots, and the Florida recount.
November 22, 2000
A riot outside the Dade County election offices, forcing the abrupt cancellation of a hand recount of Presidential election ballots, is carried out by paid Republican operatives flown in from around the country, some in Tom DeLay's private jet.
December 12, 2000
The Supreme Court decides Gore v. Bush in Bush's favor.
December 17, 2000
President Bush nominates John Ashcroft to be U.S. Attorney General. Aschroft has just managed, despite considerably outspending his opponent, to lose his U.S. Senate seat to a dead man.