Bush Administration Split Over Go-It-Alone Option "President Bush's key officials are split over the critical question of how much international support Washington needs before starting a war with Iraq. As UN weapons inspectors swarmed through one of Saddam Hussein's presidential palaces yesterday, officials in the White House, Pentagon and State Department were at odds about what constitutes a critical mass of diplomatic and military backing. Dick Cheney suggests that the United States can launch strikes with next to no overseas backing as long as it has active British support, according to informed sources."