Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Blogger bares Rumsfeld's post 9/11 orders

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Blogger bares Rumsfeld's post 9/11 orders: "Friday February 24, 2006
The Guardian

Hours after a commercial plane struck the Pentagon on September 11 2001 the US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, was issuing rapid orders to his aides to look for evidence of Iraqi involvement, according to notes taken by one of them.

'Hard to get good case. Need to move swiftly,' the notes say. 'Near term target needs - go massive - sweep it all up, things related and not.'

The handwritten notes, with some parts blanked out, were declassified this month in response to a request by a law student and blogger, Thad Anderson, under the US Freedom of Information Act. Anderson has posted them on his blog at outragedmoderates.org.
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The actual notes suggest a focus on Saddam. "Best info fast. Judge whether good enough [to] hit SH at same time - not only UBL [Pentagon shorthand for Usama/Osama bin Laden]," the notes say. "Tasks. Jim Haynes [Pentagon lawyer] to talk with PW [probably Paul Wolfowitz, then Mr Rumsfeld's deputy] for additional support ... connection with UBL."

Mr Wolfowitz, now the head of the World Bank, advocated regime change in Iraq before 2001."