Richard Perle, one of Rummy's main advisers and one of the most influential hawks on the Iraq War, was nicknamed by his admirers "the Prince of Darkness." It's kind of scary when the people who admire you give you a nickname like that!
This interview with Perle gives an indication why (my emphasis):
The justification [for the Iraq War] was never restricted
to weapons of mass destruction. The president talked about regime
change very early on. The regime change argument was eclipsed by the
weapons of mass destruction argument partly because the Department
of State was always uncomfortable talking about regime change… [because]
that it is outside what is today the accepted notion
of legitimacy in international terms…. But weapons of mass
destruction and violations of UN resolutions are a solid basis
for reaction and the State Department gravitated toward the legally
correct view.
One would hope that every official employed by the United States Government would "gravitate toward the legally correct view." But apparently not everyone involved thought that was an adequate perspective.
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