Over at Chapel Furnace:
Bush Planned To Invade Iraq 9 Months Before 911 according to former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill.

The Bush Administration began laying plans for an invasion of Iraq including the use of American troops within days of President Bush’s inauguration in January of 2001, not eight months later after the 9/11 attacks as has been previously reported.

Bsti: “So I wonder how it would have played out had 9/11 never happened.
Would BushCo still have been able to convince anyone that it was the right thing to do? Very, very doubtful. They had a tough time of it as it was, imagine if they didn’t have the events of 9/11 or al-Qaeda to refer to constantly.”