JANUARY 30, 2001

WHEN IT ALL STARTED:

FROM THE PRICE OF LOYALTY by Ron Suskind

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On the afternoon of January 30, ten days after his inauguration as the forty-third president, George W. Bush met with the principals of his National Security Council for the first time.
Bush offered a few introductory remarks about "the structure of things in my NSC." "Condi will run these meetings. I'll be seeing all of you regularly, but I want you to debate things out here and then Condi will report to me. She's my national security advisor."

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He turned to Rice. "So, Condi, what are we going to talk about today? What's on the agenda?" "How Iraq is destabilizing the region, Mr. President," Rice said, in what several observers understood was a scripted exchange. She noted that Iraq might be the key to reshaping the entire region.