When Bush launched his lobbying campaign for a war resolution in early September, it was prominent Democrats, including then House Minority Whip Nancy Pelosi and then Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, who expressed concerns that Congress was being stampeded into voting on an Iraq war resolution without having time to carefully evaluate the intelligence. "I know of no information that would suggest the threat is so imminent that we have to do it in October," Pelosi was quoted in a Sept. 11, 2002, Los Angeles Times story that ran under the headline, CONGRESS BALKS AT RUSHING VOTE. In the same story, Daschle said: "It's so important that we do this right, not rush to some judgment." The most charitable explanation of Rove's comments may be that he was trying to suggest it was Republican leaders in the Senate, more than the White House, who wanted an Iraq War vote before the elections—in hopes of bolstering the GOP's chances of recapturing the Senate. And it is certainly true that by early October, some Democratic leaders, notably then House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, supported a quick vote in order to take Iraq off the table as an issue in the fall campaign.

But today, some of Rove's old foes are anything but charitable. "Rove has either a very bad memory or he's lying," said Daschle in an e-mail to NEWSWEEK. (In an unaired portion of the same Charlie Rose interview, Rose also commented on a recent excerpt from Scott McClellan's forthcoming book in which the former White House press secretary asserted he had been provided with false information when he told reporters Rove and former vice presidential aide Scooter Libby were "not involved" in the leak of CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson's identity. Rove said McClellan's remarks had been "misinterpreted" and then added: "The fact of the matter is that I told Scott something that was absolutely true. And it's been borne out by the facts. I did not knowingly disclose the identity or name of the CIA agent." According to testimony at Libby's trial, Rove did, however, confirm the leak of Wilson's identity to columnist Robert Novak and then volunteered the same information to Time magazine reporter Matt Cooper.) 

Even one of Rove's former White House colleagues seemed puzzled by his remarks on the Iraq War vote. "This is the first time I've ever heard Karl say that," said former Bush counselor Dan Bartlett. (He added that he didn't want to comment further until he had a chance to consult his files.) Rove did not respond to an e-mail request for comment. As he told Charlie Rose, he's saving his version for the bookstores.

Terror Watch, written by Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball ,  appears online weekly

© 2007