Editing Donald Rumsfeld (section)

===Military decisions in the wake of 9/11===
[[File:Rumsfeld and Giuliani at Ground Zero.jpg|thumb|Rumsfeld and New York City Mayor [[Rudy Giuliani]] speak at the site of the World Trade Center attacks in [[Lower Manhattan]] on November 14, 2001.]]

On the afternoon of September 11, Rumsfeld issued rapid orders to his aides to look for evidence of possible Iraqi involvement in regard to what had just occurred, according to notes taken by senior policy official [[Stephen Cambone]]. "Best info fast. Judge whether good enough hit S.H."{{snd}}meaning Saddam Hussein{{snd}}"at same time. Not only UBL" ([[Osama bin Laden]]), Cambone's notes quoted Rumsfeld as saying. "Need to move swiftly{{snd}}Near term target needs{{snd}}go massive{{snd}}sweep it all up. Things related and not."<ref>{{cite news|first=Joel |last=Roberts |title=Plans For Iraq Attack Began On 9/11 |date=September 4, 2002 |work=[[CBS News]] |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/plans-for-iraq-attack-began-on-9-11/ |access-date=October 7, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090927043007/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/09/04/september11/main520830.shtml |archive-date=September 27, 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Julian |last=Borger |title=Blogger bares Rumsfeld's post 9/11 orders |date=February 24, 2006 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/feb/24/freedomofinformation.september11 |work=[[The Guardian]]|location=London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211113142/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/feb/24/freedomofinformation.september11 |archive-date=February 11, 2009 |url-status=live |access-date=February 11, 2009}}</ref>

In the first emergency meeting of the [[United States National Security Council|National Security Council]] on the day of the attacks, Rumsfeld asked, "Why shouldn't we go against Iraq, not just al-Qaeda?" with his deputy [[Paul Wolfowitz]] adding that Iraq was a "brittle, oppressive regime that might break easily—it was doable," and, according to [[John Kampfner]], "from that moment on, he and Wolfowitz used every available opportunity to press the case."<ref>{{cite book | last =Kampfner | first =John | author-link =John Kampfner | title =Blair's wars | publisher =Simon and Schuster | year =2003 | page =156 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=U4xti2TmG6UC&pg=PA156 | isbn =978-0-7432-4829-7 | access-date =June 30, 2021 | archive-date =August 1, 2020 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20200801021731/https://books.google.com/books?id=U4xti2TmG6UC&pg=PA156 | url-status =live }}</ref> President George W. Bush reacted to Rumsfeld's suggestion, "Wait a minute, I didn't hear a word said about him (Saddam Hussein) being responsible for the attack"<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bergen |first1=Peter L. |title=The Rise and Fall of Osama Bin Laden |date=2022 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-9821-7053-0 |page=159 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UCSvzgEACAAJ |language=en}}</ref> and the idea was initially rejected at the behest of Secretary of State [[Colin Powell]], but, according to Kampfner, "Undeterred Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz held secret meetings about opening up a second front—against Saddam. Powell was excluded." In such meetings they created a policy that would later be dubbed the [[Bush Doctrine]], centering on "pre-emption" and the war on Iraq, which the [[Project for the New American Century|PNAC]] had advocated in their earlier letters.<ref name="Hersh">[[Seymour Hersh|Seymour M. Hersh]], [https://www.newyorker.com/archive/2003/05/12/030512fa_fact "Annals of National Security Selective Intelligence:] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140717100914/http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2003/05/12/030512fa_fact |date=July 17, 2014 }} Donald Rumsfeld Has His Own Special Sources. Are they reliable?" ''The New Yorker'', May 12, 2003, accessed May 8, 2007.</ref>

[[Richard A. Clarke]], the White House counter-terrorism coordinator at the time, has revealed details of another National Security Council meeting the day after the attacks, during which officials considered the U.S. response. Already, he said, they were certain al-Qa'ida was to blame and there was no hint of Iraqi involvement. "Rumsfeld was saying we needed to bomb Iraq," according to Clarke. Clarke then stated, "We all said, 'No, no, al-Qa'ida is in Afghanistan.{{'"}} Clarke also revealed that Rumsfeld complained in the meeting, "there aren't any good targets in Afghanistan and there are lots of good targets in Iraq."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/rumsfeld-wanted-to-bomb-iraq-after-911-65340.html|title=Rumsfeld 'wanted to bomb Iraq' after 9/11|work=The Independent|date=March 21, 2004|access-date=July 9, 2020|archive-date=July 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200711125049/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/rumsfeld-wanted-to-bomb-iraq-after-911-65340.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Rumsfeld even suggested to attack other countries like Libya and Sudan, arguing that if this was to be a truly "global war on terror" then all state sponsors of terrorism should be dealt with.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bergen |first1=Peter L. |title=The Rise and Fall of Osama Bin Laden |date=2022 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-9821-7053-0 |page=160 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=anp5EAAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref>

Rumsfeld wrote in ''Known and Unknown'', "Much has been written about the Bush administration's focus on Iraq after 9/11. Commentators have suggested that it was strange or obsessive for the President and his advisers to have raised questions about whether Saddam Hussein was somehow behind the attack. I have never understood the controversy. I had no idea if Iraq was or was not involved, but it would have been irresponsible for any administration not to have asked the question."<ref name="memoir" />{{rp|347}}

A memo written by Rumsfeld dated November 27, 2001, considers an Iraq war. One section of the memo questions "How start?", listing multiple possible justifications for a U.S.-Iraq War.<ref name="tv.msnbc.com" />


[[File:Rumsfeld-Memo-HowStart.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Excerpt from Donald Rumsfeld memo dated November 27, 2001<ref name="tv.msnbc.com">{{cite news|date=February 27, 2014 |url=https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/building-momentum-regime-change-rumsfe |title='Building momentum for regime change': Rumsfeld's secret memos |archive-date=March 13, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140313095516/http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/building-momentum-regime-change-rumsfe}}</ref>]]