WH planned Iraq invasion days after 9/11!!!!!

[Proud_American]

(Mods, this was originally posted by Star, but the subject line was not grabbing enough attention (IMHO) and this is huge!)

If this information is accurate it means that * intentionally manipulated intelligence to serve his agenda (as if we didn't all already know that). According to the source he was going to invade Iraq "whether or not it had any role" in 9/11. Unf--kenbelievable! :mad:

-snip-

WASHINGTON - With demands for a full-scale investigation of the manipulation of intelligence by the administration of President George W Bush mounting steadily, it appears increasingly clear that key officials and their allies outside the administration decided to use the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, as a pretext for going to war against Iraq within hours of the attacks themselves

Within the administration, the principals appear to have included

Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, Vice President Dick Cheney and his national-security advisor, I Lewis Libby, among others in key posts in the National Security Council and the State Department.

Outside the administration, key figures included close friends of both Wolfowitz and Rumsfeld, including Richard Perle and former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) chief James Woolsey - both members of Rumsfeld's Defense Policy Board (DPB); Frank Gaffney, head of the arms industry-funded Center for Security Policy; and William Kristol, editor of the Rupert Murdoch-owned Weekly Standard and chairman of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), among others.

A close examination of the public record indicates that all of these individuals - both in and outside the administration - were actively preparing the ground within days, even hours, after the September 11 attacks, for an eventual attack on Iraq, whether or not it had any role in the attacks or any connection to al-Qaeda.

-snip-

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EG17Ak02.html

[Cha]

1. I found this over at MWO and thought it appropo for this

thread.

[snooper2]

2. And how long ago..

Did DU'er's know this?

[SeattleDem]

3. a few days after 9/11.....

it's sad that this is "news" now that Americans can understand the context. Many of us knew this months, maybe literally years, ago.

[Nlighten1]

4. Good grief

File this under "No duh"

[TrueBlueDem]

5. Here's a similar story... from Sept. 2002

Let's hope this time the story gets more play from the media.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/09/04/september11/main520830.shtml

Plans For Iraq Attack Began On 9/11

CBS News has learned that barely five hours after American Airlines Flight 77 plowed into the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld was telling his aides to come up with plans for striking Iraq — even though there was no evidence linking Saddam Hussein to the attacks.

That's according to notes taken by aides who were with Rumsfeld in the National Military Command Center on Sept. 11 – notes that show exactly where the road toward war with Iraq began, reports CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin.

---snip

With the intelligence all pointing toward bin Laden, Rumsfeld ordered the military to begin working on strike plans. And at 2:40 p.m., the notes quote Rumsfeld as saying he wanted "best info fast. Judge whether good enough hit S.H." – meaning Saddam Hussein – "at same time. Not only UBL" – the initials used to identify Osama bin Laden.

Now, nearly one year later, there is still very little evidence Iraq was involved in the Sept. 11 attacks. But if these notes are accurate, that didn't matter to Rumsfeld.

MORE...

[JoFerret]

6. In that case

- they should have done a better job.

[DoveTurnedHawk]

7. Locking

As the poster noted, this is the incorrect title and also a dupe. We prefer it if people do not editorialize on titles, even if the original title is rather bland.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=17662&mesg_id=17662&page=

DTH
DU Moderator