Was 9/11 Part of the Plan for War?

I've long believed that the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington D.C. on September 11, 2001, may have been clandestinely linked to certain elements within the U.S. government. The devastating attacks, combined with the neo-conservative movement's need for a justification to go to war in Iraq, seemed to create an awfully CONVENIENT collision of fateful events. Without such an attack on U.S. soil, there's no way that U.S. public opinion EVER would have supported sending 100,000+ troops to the Middle East to overthrow the regime of Saddam Hussein and engage in what amounts to nation-building. Absolutely no way. The neo-conservatives who wanted to pursue this course of action needed another Pearl Harbor. And they got it. But did they know in advance that they were going to get it? Did they somehow ASSIST in getting it? I have a hunch that there may be something to this.

While the proverbial "smoking gun" remains to be found (indeed, it may never be found, assuming it even existed in the first place), the latest story about the 9/11 hijackers and who in the government knew what appears to offer some very intriguing possibilities.

By the sound of it, a little-known task force within the Pentagon's military intelligence unit may have known about Mohammed Atta and three other eventual 9/11 hijackers, as well as their alleged links to al Qaeda, long before the horrible airborne attacks were unleashed. In fact, it appears that this information was known more than a YEAR in advance of 9/11/01. But for some unknown reason, certain powers-that-be within the Pentagon put the kibosh on releasing this information to law enforcement authorities, namely the FBI.

It will be interesting to see this story unfold. Perhaps it will go nowhere. Or, perhaps this initial nugget merely scratches the surface of what's to come. While I tend not to get overly worked up by unfounded conspiracy theories, the Bush administration's desire to wage war in Iraq pre-dated the 9/11 attacks. And neo-conservatives within and with longtime ties to the Pentagon - including our esteemed Vice President Dick Cheney (former Secretary of Defense under Bush I) - long have advocated proactive military action in the Middle East in order to assert U.S. domination of the region. Could these neo-conservative elements have "greased the skids" and encouraged - or funded - the vicious attacks that inspired the U.S. to go to war?

Stay tuned. This could get interesting. Very interesting, indeed.