Strongman solution rejected by Bush Administration before invasion

"SECRETARY RICE: . . . But you should understand that we had the debate inside the Administration, the discussion inside the Administration about whether it was good enough to overthrow Saddam Hussein and replace him with a strongman. We had that discussion and it was rejected because --
QUESTION: When did you have that?
SECRETARY RICE: Before the war, before the war.
QUESTION: Who wanted a strongman? (Laughter.)
SECRETARY RICE: Actually nobody. But I'm saying that the point was put on the table and it was rejected because the view was that if you were going to overthrow Saddam Hussein the Iraqi people deserved a chance at democratic development -- democratic development would give the best chance for a different kind of Iraq and ultimately a different kind of Middle East and that ultimately another strongman was just going to leave some administration 20 years from now with another Saddam Hussein. And so this was a conscience choice about what kind of Iraq we were going to try to build and I think it's important to understand that that was a choice before the war."

Source
[1] U.S. Department of State. Interview With The Washington Post Editorial Board. Secretary Condoleezza Rice. December 14, 2006.

posted: sunday, december 17, 11:58 PM ET
update: monday, december 18, 12:02 AM ET

iraq strongman bush administration condoleezza rice