Since so many are in the "Iraq Revisionist" mode lately, I thought I'd post this VERY informative Timeline.
Hopefully, it might put some helpful "side-bars" around all the "what we knew then" questions ...
Lie by Lie: A Timeline of How We Got Into Iraq
Mushroom clouds, duct tape, Judy Miller, Curveball. Recalling how Americans were sold a bogus case for invasion.
by Jonathan Stein and Tim Dickinson, September/October 2006 Issue
[...]
1/26/98 Project for a New American Century (PNAC) -- founded by Cheney, Scooter Libby, Donald Rumsfeld, Jeb Bush, Paul Wolfowitz, and other top neocons -- demands President Clinton undertake the "removal of Saddam Hussein's regime."
[...]
Nov 2000 Future Chief Justice John Roberts flies to Florida to advise Jeb Bush during recount.
12/12/00 Supreme Court hands presidency to George W. Bush.
Early 2001 Enron CEO Ken Lay named to Bush Energy Department transition team. Jack Abramoff appointed to Interior Department transition team.
1/30/01 Saddam's removal is top item of Bush's inaugural national security meeting. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill later recalls, "It was all about finding a way to do it. The president saying, 'Go find me a way to do this.'" [Date the public knew: 1/10/04]
2/11/01 "Iraq is probably not a nuclear threat at the present time."—Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld tells Fox News' Tony Snow
2/14/01 Dick Cheney's energy task force begins secret meetings with oil company executives. [Date the public knew: 4/16/01]
2/16/01 Bush: "To send a clear signal to Saddam," US and UK bomb targets near Baghdad.
2/24/01 Saddam "has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction."—Secretary of State Colin Powell
2/26/01 Future Iraq Ambassador L. Paul Bremer III says: "The new administration seems to be paying no attention to the problem of terrorism." [Date the public knew: 4/29/04]
3/5/01 Pentagon produces document titled "Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfield Contracts" for Cheney's task force. Includes a map of areas for potential exploration. [Date the public knew: 7/17/03]
4/10/01 Lone CIA analyst known only as "Joe" tells top Bush brass that aluminum tubes bought by Iraq can only be for nuclear centrifuges. [Date the public knew: 8/10/03]
[...]
8/10/01 Major air raid on Iraq.
8/17/01 Memo to CIA from Energy Department experts eviscerates "Joe's" theory that aluminum tubes purchased by Iraq are for nuclear centrifuges. Memo given to National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, who later claims tubes are clear evidence of Iraqi nuke program. [Date the public knew: 5/1/04]
9/11/01 Al Qaeda attacks. Minutes taken by a Rumsfeld aide five hours later: "Best info fast. Judge whether good enough [to] hit SH [Saddam Hussein] @ same time. Not only UBL [Usama bin Laden]." [Date the public knew: 9/4/02]
9/12/01 According to counterterror czar Richard Clarke, "[Bush] told us, 'I want you, as soon as you can, to go back over everything, everything. See if Saddam did this.'" Told evidence against Al Qaeda overwhelming, Bush asks for "any shred" Saddam was involved. [Date the public knew: 3/22/04]
[...]
Say it ain't so "Joe" ... Where is good ole "Aluminum Joe" anyways, these days?
Perhaps they put him charge of divvying up this map? ... before it "spoils"
larger
And here's the animated version of the Iraq Timeline, which includes these power-packed features: Scrollable, Searchable, with Search Tags, and Event notes now with even more details.
Lie by Lie: The Mother Jones Iraq War Timeline (8/1/90 - 2/14/08)
In this timeline, we've assembled the history of the Iraq War to create a resource we hope will help resolve open questions of the Bush era. What did our leaders know and when did they know it? And, perhaps just as important, what red flags did we miss, and how could we have missed them?
For example, here is the last reference from the intro, but with a bit more 'background' detail:
9/12/2001 According to Richard Clarke's book, "Against All Enemies," Bush collars Clarke and says, "I know you have a lot to do and all, but I want you, as soon as you can, to go back over everything, everything. See if Saddam did this. See if he's linked in any way." Clarke responds, "But, Mr. President, Al Qaeda did this." Bush tells him, "I know, I know, but -- see if Saddam was involved. Just look. I want to know any shred...."
Here's what I found when a typed a keyword, into the app's search engine ...
Search Engine: inspector
1/27/2003 Hans Blix appears before the UN on the same day as ElBaradei to comment on the Iraqi weapons declaration and to present an update on inspections. He reports that inspectors have found no "smoking guns" in Iraq after two months' work, and that they have not encountered any impediments from the Iraqis. He does say the Iraqi declaration was incomplete, and calls on the Iraqis to show more evidence of disarmament.
Too bad, so few bothered to take Inspector
Hans Blix seriously.
So many lives, may not have been lost.
So many trillions, may not have been spent.
So much ensuing chaos, may not have morphed into ISIS.
Heckuva Job there ... Bushies!
And they seriously think, America is ready to go another round ... ?
(Well ... given how easy it was for them, the first time around ... who knows.)