After the 9/11 attacks, the neocons' moment had arrived. So, on Sept. 20, 2001, with the remains of New York City's Twin Towers still smoldering, the neocon Project for a New American Century (PNAC) urged Bush to wipe the Middle East's slate clean of any regime or movement hostile to Israel or the United States.
The invasion of Iraq was to be simply the first chess move in this strategy. The next would be the elimination of regimes in Iran and Syria if they continued to support Israel's enemies in Lebanon's Hezbollah and inside Palestine.
Beyond removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq, Bush should � ���"demand that Iran and Syria immediately cease all military, financial and political support for Hezbollah and its operations,� �� � said the letter signed by The Weekly Standard editor William Kristol and 40 other neocons and allies.
The signers then added: � ���"Should Iran and Syria refuse to comply, the administration should consider appropriate measures of retaliation against these known state sponsors of terrorism.� �� �
And, the Bush administration was told to spare no expense in this endeavor.
� ���"A serious and victorious war on terrorism will require a large increase in defense spending,� �� � said the letter. � ���"We urge that there be no hesitation in requesting whatever funds for defense are needed to allow us to win this war.� �� �
Attacking Afghanistan
However, first, the Bush administration had to at least make a show of going after Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders judged responsible for killing nearly 3,000 Americans on 9/11 � ��" and those targets were in Afghanistan living under the protection of the Taliban.
So, in October 2003, Bush ordered an attack against Afghanistan, though committing few regular U.S. troops and relying mostly on air power along with CIA officers and U.S. Special Forces on the ground who coordinated with Afghan warlords opposed to the Taliban.
The initial phase of the Afghan War went smoothly. Taliban forces crumbled under the massive U.S. aerial bombardments and abandoned the capital of Kabul. Soon, bin Laden and his top lieutenants were fleeing to their old base camps in the mountains of Tora Bora, near the Pakistani border.
The small team of American pursuers believed they had bin Laden trapped and called for reinforcements to seal off possible escape routes to Pakistan and to mount assaults on al-Qaeda's mountain strongholds, according to a newly released analysis of the Tora Bora battle by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
But the Senate report found that by then Bush had turned his attention to Iraq, as the neocons wanted. Instead of staying focused on capturing bin Laden and destroying al-Qaeda, Central Command Gen. Tommy Franks was instructed to begin planning for an invasion of Iraq. The Senate report said:
� ���"On November 21, 2001, President Bush put his arm on Defense Secretary [Donald] Rumsfeld as they were leaving a National Security Council meeting at the White House. � ��˜I need to see you,' the president said. It was 72 days after the 9/11 attacks and just a week after the fall of Kabul. But Bush already had new plans.� �� �
Citing Bob Woodward's book, Plan of Attack, the Senate report quoted Bush as asking Rumsfeld, � ���"What kind of war plan do you have for Iraq?� �� �
In an interview with Woodward, Bush recalled instructing Rumsfeld to � ���"get Tommy Franks looking at what it would take to protect America by removing Saddam Hussein if we have to.� �� � Rumsfeld then had the Joint Chiefs of Staff draft a message asking Franks for a new assessment on fighting a war with Iraq, the Senate report said.
In his memoir, American General, Franks said he got a phone call from Rumsfeld on Nov. 21, after the Defense Secretary had met with the President, and was told about Bush's interest in an updated Iraq war plan.
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