Dubya's Dilemma: Daddy Doesn't Support the Iraq War

"Sources also say the elder Bush, who once headed the Central Intelligence Agency, faults his son for pressuring the CIA to provide hastily-prepared and faulty intelligence to support plans to invade Iraq.
Rumors of a rift between father and son have circulated in Washington for months and White House watchers noted, with interest, the lack of public support from the elder Bush for his son’s military action against Iraq.
“George H.W. Bush is a pro,” says Darlene Atkins, a former campaign worker for the elder Bush. “He makes sure the facts are on his side before he moves.  It concerns him that his son did not exercise what he feels was appropriate caution before launching the war with Iraq.”
Bush’s father has told Republican leaders that he fears Iraq will cost his son a second term in the White House, calling the war “his read-my-lips donnybrook,” a reference to the elder Bush’s flip-flop on tax increases that many feel led to his defeat in the 1992 elections.
In addition, the former President has told his son that he “messed up big time” in trying to tie Saddam Hussein to the 9/11 attacks against the United States. The elder Bush points out that a State Department assessment released after the September 11 attacks lists 45 countries (including the United States) where al-Qaeda operated and notes that Iraq was not one of those countries.
John McLaughlin, Deputy Director of the CIA, told Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz Iraq was not on the list. A spokesman for the Deputy Secretary confirmed McLaughlin’s briefing of Wolfowitz.
“The problem President Bush has when it comes to CIA intelligence is that his daddy knows a lot more about what goes on at Langley than he does,” says a former intelligence officer.  “He also knows how the White House can drive the outcome of intel assessments." "