New Evidence Bush Pushed Iraq War Right After 9/11« Thread Started on Apr 8, 2004, 2:04am »--------------------------------------------------------------------------------From: Gandalf Grey (
gandalfgrey@infectedmail.com)Subject: New Evidence Bush Pushed Iraq War Right After 9/11 This is the only article in this thread View: Original Format Newsgroups: alt.current-events.clinton.whitewater, alt.current-events.wtc.bush-knew, alt.impeach.bush, alt.politics, alt.politics.bush, alt.politics.liberalism, alt.society.liberalism, talk.politics.miscDate: 2004-04-07 11:52:36 PST April 6, 2004New Evidence Bush Pushed Iraq War Right After 9/11The White House continues to deny that the president immediately beganplanning an invasion of Iraq in the days after 9/11, calling such charges"revisionist history" and claiming Iraq was "to the side" immediatelyafter the attacks. But new revelations by a former top British officialconfirm that, immediately after 9/11, President Bush started planning to usethe terrorist attacks as a justification for war in Iraq, despite having noproof that Iraq had any connection to Al Qaeda or 9/11According to a report in the new edition of Vanity Fair, former BritishAmbassador to the United States Christopher Meyer said that President Bushmade clear at a dinner with Prime Minister Tony Blair nine days after theSept. 11 attacks that he wanted to confront Iraq. The assertion iscorroborated by the Washington Post, which reported that President Bushpersonally signed a two-and-a-half page directive on September 17th, 2001ordering the Pentagon to begin drawing up Iraq invasion plans. Theassertion is also corroborated by CBS News, which reported on September 4,2002 that, five hours after the 9/11 attacks, "Defense Secretary DonaldRumsfeld was telling his aides to come up with plans for striking Iraq."The account by the former British Ambassador confirms similar accounts byformer Bush counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke and former TreasurySecretary Paul O'Neill.The result of President Bush's preoccupation with Iraq has been dramatic:the diversion of critical resources to Iraq and away from the hunt for Osamabin Laden/Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. As reported by USA Today, "In 2002,troops from the 5th Special Forces Group who specialize in the Middle Eastwere pulled out of the hunt for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan to preparefor their next assignment: Iraq." Similarly, Senator Bob Graham (D-FL)reported that, in February 2002, a senior military commander told him, "Weare moving military and intelligence personnel and resources out ofAfghanistan to get ready for a future war in Iraq." That has left manydangerous terrorists still at large, and the UN now reporting that thecountry is "in danger of reverting to a terrorist breeding ground."Sources:White House Press Briefing, 3/23/04."Neither Silent Nor a Public Witness," Washington Post, 3/26/04."Doubts cast on efforts to link Saddam, al-Qaida," Knight-Ridder, 3/2/04."Report Details Bush-Blair Meeting on Iraq," Associated Press, 4/4/04."U.S. Decision On Iraq Has Puzzling Past," Washington Post, 1/12/03."Plans For Iraq Attack Began On 9/11," CBS News, 9/4/02."Shifts from bin Laden hunt evoke questions," USA Today, 3/28/04."Senator Bob Graham Remarks to the Council on Foreign Relations," Council onForeign Relations, 3/26/04."UN warns on Aghanistan reverting to terrorism," Financial Times, 3/28/04.