THE PERSONAL AND THE POLITICAL

Thomas Ricks writes that both Wolfowitz and Feith were strongly influenced by the Holocaust. Wolfowitz felt (p.16) the containment was morally wrong and in Saddam's case, would be like trying to contain Hitler's Germany. Wolfowitz lost most of his extended family in the Holocaust and his line survived because his father left Poland in 1920. Feith (p.77) the Holocaust and the mistakes made in appeasing Hitler in the 30s were very important in his thinking about foreign policy. Feith once said "My family got wiped out by Hitler..."

No matter how dispassionate one can try to be, there is little doubt that the emotions of both these men played a large role in their thinking about Iraq.