Now Suskind is taking his “experiment in transparency” one step further. Last week he began posting the first of those 19,000 documents on his Web site: thepriceofloyalty.ronsuskind.com /thebushfiles. These are no ordinary papers. As Bush’s top domestic-policy adviser and a National Security Council principal, O’Neill had access to an amazing array of material. Among other things, the documents reveal that the Bush administration began planning for a post-Saddam Iraq, complete with maps on how to divvy up the oilfields, at its first National Security Council meetings in 2001.
What’s next? “More early NSC documents that show preparations for Iraq in early 2001, and some controversial lobbying of the government–let’s just say influence that was effective,” says Suskind. “Readers will feel as though they are sitting at O’Neill’s desk.” The Web site includes a post-office box in the hopes that other government officials will send more documents anonymously. Why wait to read the history books?
