Washington Post: US official reveals the US intended to invade Iraq prior to 9/11 events

Lending support to those who said that the US was using the Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction issue and other related issues as pretext for political motives, the Washington Post reported Saturday that "Former Treasury Secretary Paul H. O'Neill charged in remarks released Saturday that President Bush began planning to oust Saddam Hussein within days of taking office and before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001."

The Washington Post said "Providing firsthand testimony bolstering a longtime contention of White House critics, O'Neill told Lesley Stahl of CBS News for a segment to be broadcast on "60 Minutes" Sunday night that preparations to oust Hussein long predated Bush's articulation of his preemption doctrine in June 2002, when he said the United States must strike looming enemies before the worst threats emerge."

The Washington Post report said: "From the very beginning, there was a conviction that Saddam Hussein was a bad person and that he needed to go," O'Neill said, according to CBS. "For me, the notion of preemption -- that the U.S. has the unilateral right to do whatever we decide to do -- is a really huge leap."

The report spoke of "early discussions at a National Security Council meeting he attended, no official questioned why Iraq should be invaded.It was all about finding a way to do it," O'Neill said. "That was the tone of it. The president saying, 'Go find me a way to do this.' "