Though the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War and follow-on sanctions had reduced Saddam Hussein's Iraq to Third World status, the neocons still viewed the regime as a cornerstone of Arab opposition to Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories. Iraq also sat geographically between Iran and Syria, two Muslim countries that supported Lebanon's Hezbollah militias, which had fought Israel's occupation of south Lebanon, and Hamas, which had led the Intifada uprisings against Israel's military control of Gaza and the West Bank.
Since the Clinton administration, leading neocons through William Kristol's Project for a New American Century (PNAC) had pressed for "regime change" in Iraq, but the 9/11 attacks finally made that possible.
On Sept. 20, 2001, with the remains of New York's Twin Towers still smoldering, PNAC urged Bush to remove any Middle East regime or movement that was hostile to Israel or the United States, with the invasion of Iraq only the first move in this strategy. The next would be elimination of regimes in Iran and Syria if they continued to support Israel's enemies in Lebanon and 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 Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard, 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 2001, 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 coordinating 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 recent analysis of the Tora Bora battle by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
But Bush and neocon advisers already had turned their attention to Iraq. 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."
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