I&#x27;m not really an expert so I don&#x27;t keep links handy. A duckduckgo search of &quot;bush iraq invasion before 9&#x2F;11&quot; [0] yields:<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.cnn.com&#x2F;2004&#x2F;ALLPOLITICS&#x2F;01&#x2F;10&#x2F;oneill.bush&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.cnn.com&#x2F;2004&#x2F;ALLPOLITICS&#x2F;01&#x2F;10&#x2F;oneill.bush&#x2F;</a><p>&gt; <i>(CNN) -- The Bush administration began planning to use U.S. troops to invade Iraq within days after the former Texas governor entered the White House three years ago, former Treasury Secretary Paul O&#x27;Neill told CBS News&#x27; 60 Minutes.</i><p>&gt; <i>&quot;From the very beginning, there was a conviction that Saddam Hussein was a bad person and that he needed to go,&quot; O&#x27;Neill told CBS, according to excerpts released Saturday by the network. &quot;For me, the notion of pre-emption, that the U.S. has the unilateral right to do whatever we decide to do, is a really huge leap.&quot;</i><p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.cbsnews.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;bush-sought-way-to-invade-iraq&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.cbsnews.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;bush-sought-way-to-invade-iraq&#x2F;</a><p>&gt; <i>He got briefing materials under this cover sheet. &quot;There are memos. One of them marked, secret, says, &#x27;Plan for post-Saddam Iraq,&#x27;&quot; adds Suskind, who says that they discussed an occupation of Iraq in January and February of 2001</i><p>&gt; <i>Based on his interviews with O&#x27;Neill and several other officials at the meetings, Suskind writes that the planning envisioned peacekeeping troops, war crimes tribunals, and even divvying up Iraq&#x27;s oil wealth.</i><p>For reference, the towers fell on Sept 11, 2001.<p>For the rationale my understanding mostly derives from various reddit threads (e.g. [1]), a friend who majored in criminology, and this fantastic overview of Iraq at Wait but Why [2].<p>[0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;duckduckgo.com&#x2F;?q=bush+iraq+invasion+before+9%2F11" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;duckduckgo.com&#x2F;?q=bush+iraq+invasion+before+9%2F11</a><p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.reddit.com&#x2F;r&#x2F;changemyview&#x2F;comments&#x2F;1lx1s7&#x2F;oil_played_huge_role_in_the_iraq_warcmv&#x2F;cc3nlki" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.reddit.com&#x2F;r&#x2F;changemyview&#x2F;comments&#x2F;1lx1s7&#x2F;oil_pl...</a><p>[2] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;waitbutwhy.com&#x2F;2014&#x2F;09&#x2F;muhammad-isis-iraqs-full-story.html#19" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;waitbutwhy.com&#x2F;2014&#x2F;09&#x2F;muhammad-isis-iraqs-full-story...</a>