http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature...rke/index.html

Extract

CBS News reported on Sept. 4, 2002, that "barely five hours after American
Airlines Flight 77 crashed 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."

The Washington Post reported on Jan. 12, 2003, that six days after Sept. 11
Bush signed an order "directing the Pentagon to begin planning military
options for an invasion of Iraq."

Former British ambassador Christopher Meyer confirmed that "President Bush
first asked British Prime Minister Tony Blair to support the removal of
Saddam Hussein from power at a private White House dinner nine days after"
Sept. 11.

Ambassador Meyer reported on Dec. 2, 2001, that "President Bush has ordered
the CIA and his senior military commanders to draw up detailed plans for a
military operation" against Iraq that could involve "U.S. forces fighting on
the ground."

Former Bush State Department official Richard Haas noted that at a meeting
with National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice in July 2002, she replied,
"Don't waste your breath" when he asked about diplomatic efforts on Iraq.

Former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill published documents proving that the
president "ordered the Pentagon to explore the possibility of a ground
invasion of Iraq well before" Sept. 11 -- an account corroborated by another
White House aide.