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IIRC the Bush administration had planned to invade Iraq regardless of 9/11. The US Department of Defense had placed the final documents on Bush's desk (ready fo

IIRC the Bush administration had planned to invade Iraq regardless of 9/11. The US Department of Defense had placed the final documents on Bush's desk (ready for him to sign) 48 hours prior to the fall of the first tower. So really, 9/11 gave Bush a convenient excuse to do what he was going to do anyway. The rationale was that Hussein needed to be replaced. Iraq was too unstable and it might fall to Iran, which would upset the power balance in the middle east. I think Afghanistan was thrown in as an afterthought because, you know, "terrorists".

shkkmo 11y ago
I haven't heard that before. Do you have any sources?
- Double_Cast 11y ago
  I'm not really an expert so I don't keep links handy. A duckduckgo search of "bush iraq invasion before 9/11" [0] yields: http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/01/10/oneill.bush/ http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/01/10/oneill.bush/ > (CNN) -- The Bush administration began planning to use U.S. troops to invade Iraq within days after the former Texas governor entered the White House three years ago, former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill told CBS News' 60 Minutes. > "From the very beginning, there was a conviction that Saddam Hussein was a bad person and that he needed to go," O'Neill told CBS, according to excerpts released Saturday by the network. "For me, the notion of pre-emption, that the U.S. has the unilateral right to do whatever we decide to do, is a really huge leap." http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bush-sought-way-to-invade-iraq/ http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bush-sought-way-to-invade-iraq/ > He got briefing materials under this cover sheet. "There are memos. One of them marked, secret, says, 'Plan for post-Saddam Iraq,'" adds Suskind, who says that they discussed an occupation of Iraq in January and February of 2001 > Based on his interviews with O'Neill and several other officials at the meetings, Suskind writes that the planning envisioned peacekeeping troops, war crimes tribunals, and even divvying up Iraq's oil wealth. For reference, the towers fell on Sept 11, 2001. For the rationale my understanding mostly derives from various reddit threads (e.g. [1]), a friend who majored in criminology, and this fantastic overview of Iraq at Wait but Why [2]. [0] https://duckduckgo.com/?q=bush+iraq+invasion+before+9%2F11 https://duckduckgo.com/?q=bush+iraq+invasion+before+9%2F11 [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/comments/1lx1s7/oil_played_huge_role_in_the_iraq_warcmv/cc3nlki https://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/comments/1lx1s7/oil_pl... [2] http://waitbutwhy.com/2014/09/muhammad-isis-iraqs-full-story.html#19 http://waitbutwhy.com/2014/09/muhammad-isis-iraqs-full-story...
  - shkkmo 11y ago
    Thanks for the search, sorry I should have been more clear. I was talking about this specific claim which is new for me: > The US Department of Defense had placed the final documents on Bush's desk (ready for him to sign) 48 hours prior to the fall of the first tower.
    - Double_Cast 11y ago
      I specifically remember it coming from a cnn article. Despite my efforts, I couldn't find that particular article. The closest I could come up with is https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2002/05/bush-m18.html https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2002/05/bush-m18.html > From this standpoint, the most important of the week’s revelations was the report by NBC News that Bush had on his desk September 9—two days before the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon—a National Security Presidential Directive outlining in detail a worldwide campaign of military, diplomatic and intelligence action targeting Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda organization, including the delivery of an ultimatum to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, backed by the threat of war. UPDATE: Incidentally, my search led me to a Guardian article which claims that a plan to "escalate pressure on the Taliban to surrender Bin Laden to he US" had existed as far back as the Clinton administration. This is new to me. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/mar/24/september11.usa2 http://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/mar/24/september11.usa...

shkkmo 11y ago

I haven't heard that before. Do you have any sources?

Double_Cast 11y ago
I'm not really an expert so I don't keep links handy. A duckduckgo search of "bush iraq invasion before 9/11" [0] yields: http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/01/10/oneill.bush/ http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/01/10/oneill.bush/ > (CNN) -- The Bush administration began planning to use U.S. troops to invade Iraq within days after the former Texas governor entered the White House three years ago, former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill told CBS News' 60 Minutes. > "From the very beginning, there was a conviction that Saddam Hussein was a bad person and that he needed to go," O'Neill told CBS, according to excerpts released Saturday by the network. "For me, the notion of pre-emption, that the U.S. has the unilateral right to do whatever we decide to do, is a really huge leap." http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bush-sought-way-to-invade-iraq/ http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bush-sought-way-to-invade-iraq/ > He got briefing materials under this cover sheet. "There are memos. One of them marked, secret, says, 'Plan for post-Saddam Iraq,'" adds Suskind, who says that they discussed an occupation of Iraq in January and February of 2001 > Based on his interviews with O'Neill and several other officials at the meetings, Suskind writes that the planning envisioned peacekeeping troops, war crimes tribunals, and even divvying up Iraq's oil wealth. For reference, the towers fell on Sept 11, 2001. For the rationale my understanding mostly derives from various reddit threads (e.g. [1]), a friend who majored in criminology, and this fantastic overview of Iraq at Wait but Why [2]. [0] https://duckduckgo.com/?q=bush+iraq+invasion+before+9%2F11 https://duckduckgo.com/?q=bush+iraq+invasion+before+9%2F11 [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/comments/1lx1s7/oil_played_huge_role_in_the_iraq_warcmv/cc3nlki https://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/comments/1lx1s7/oil_pl... [2] http://waitbutwhy.com/2014/09/muhammad-isis-iraqs-full-story.html#19 http://waitbutwhy.com/2014/09/muhammad-isis-iraqs-full-story...
- shkkmo 11y ago
  Thanks for the search, sorry I should have been more clear. I was talking about this specific claim which is new for me: > The US Department of Defense had placed the final documents on Bush's desk (ready for him to sign) 48 hours prior to the fall of the first tower.
  - Double_Cast 11y ago
    I specifically remember it coming from a cnn article. Despite my efforts, I couldn't find that particular article. The closest I could come up with is https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2002/05/bush-m18.html https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2002/05/bush-m18.html > From this standpoint, the most important of the week’s revelations was the report by NBC News that Bush had on his desk September 9—two days before the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon—a National Security Presidential Directive outlining in detail a worldwide campaign of military, diplomatic and intelligence action targeting Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda organization, including the delivery of an ultimatum to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, backed by the threat of war. UPDATE: Incidentally, my search led me to a Guardian article which claims that a plan to "escalate pressure on the Taliban to surrender Bin Laden to he US" had existed as far back as the Clinton administration. This is new to me. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/mar/24/september11.usa2 http://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/mar/24/september11.usa...