ABSTRACT
Bush had already gone along with Casey in providing an operations base for long-term CIA operative Donald Gregg, his adviser for national security affairs. 1 Then, as though to further the vice president’s credentials as a hard, international, realpolitik fighter, the CIA director picked him as the man to accomplish the objective in the fierce war between Iraq and Iran, a holy crusade with the potential to cost a million lives. At stake was control of Middle Eastern oil through the Persian Gulf. Only three months before becoming a personal emissary in that situation, Bush had visited the region in a bid to bring competitive price relief to American producers, especially for the slumping Texas fields. This time he was going to Israel, Jordan, and Egypt. 2
