Iraq attack discussed hours after Sept 11: Blum Interview
'Question: CBS has reported that barely five hours after the attacks on Washington and New York, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is quoted shorthand by aides saying, in reference to Saddam Hussein, ?Judge whether good enough to hit S.H. at same time. Not only UBL [Osama bin Laden]. Go massive. Sweep it all up. Things related and not.? (?Plan for Iraq Attack Began on 9/11?, CBS Washington, 4 September 2002) If it weren?t for September 11, would we be marching to war in Iraq today?

'Blum: They may have found another excuse; they have wanted to do this for some time. 9/11 gave them the excuse to do many things: Afghanistan, Iraq, the crackdown on civil liberties at home, the crackdown on the Freedom of Information Act ? all kinds of things, at home and abroad. They would have found some other pretext if it wasn?t for 9/11 ? and that isn?t even a pretext in the case of Iraq. With Afghanistan, on the surface at least, it could be used as a pretext because there was some connection there, supposedly, but with Iraq there is no connection whatsoever with 9/11.'

Iraq attack discussed hours after Sept 11: Blum Interview
'Question: CBS has reported that barely five hours after the attacks on Washington and New York, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is quoted shorthand by aides saying, in reference to Saddam Hussein, ?Judge whether good enough to hit S.H. at same time. Not only UBL [Osama bin Laden]. Go massive. Sweep it all up. Things related and not.? (?Plan for Iraq Attack Began on 9/11?, CBS Washington, 4 September 2002) If it weren?t for September 11, would we be marching to war in Iraq today?

'Blum: They may have found another excuse; they have wanted to do this for some time. 9/11 gave them the excuse to do many things: Afghanistan, Iraq, the crackdown on civil liberties at home, the crackdown on the Freedom of Information Act ? all kinds of things, at home and abroad. They would have found some other pretext if it wasn?t for 9/11 ? and that isn?t even a pretext in the case of Iraq. With Afghanistan, on the surface at least, it could be used as a pretext because there was some connection there, supposedly, but with Iraq there is no connection whatsoever with 9/11.'