Bush was always "like a blind man," in cabinet meetings, says O'Neill (L) (AFP)

WASHINGTON, January 10 (IslamOnline.net) – Former U.S. treasury secretary Paul O'Neill hit out at the administration of George W. Bush, describing the U.S. president as "a blind man in a room full of deaf people".

In his first interview since leaving office in 2002, due to be broadcast on CBS television Sunday, January 11, O'Neill gave an account of his time as a White House insider.

O’Neil’s information will be the main source of former Wall Street Journal reporter Ron Suskind’s 'The Price of Loyalty Book' - expected to be published Tuesday, January 13.

It gives an insider's picture of the White House under Bush according to 19,000 documents provided by O'Neill and dozens of former Bush officials.

O'Neil told CBS that a lack of constructive dialogue between the president and administration members was the prevailing characteristic.

In all cabinet meetings, Bush "was like a blind man in a room full of deaf people. It was similar in one-on-one meetings," said the former executive, who was sworn in as the 72nd Secretary of the Treasury on January 20, 2001.

Speaking about his first meeting with the president, which lasted about an hour, O'Neill says: "I went in with a long list of things to talk about and, I thought, to engage [him] on.

"I was surprised it turned out me talking and the president just listening . .  It was mostly a monologue."

In his CBS interview, O'Neill also sheds light on key policy discussions within the administration, including the scale of tax cuts and post-Saddam Iraq.

White House Spokesman Scott McClellan on Friday, January 9, declined to comment on the book or the scheduled interview, telling reporters "I don't do book reviews".

O'Neill was forced to resign in December 2002 after he declined to support a new round of tax cuts.

During his tenure, O'Neill became well-known for speaking out frequently and frankly on a range of subjects including the dollar, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) lending policy and the problems with development aid.

O'Neill's diatribe against Bush is the latest in a series of anti-Bush remarks and campaigns by scores of U.S. officials and celebrities.

Last month, New York Senator Hillary Clinton criticized the "extremist agenda" of Bush, charging his administration of "making America less free, fair, strong, [and] smart".