Casus belli? Whatever....
Swampland links to a recently-declassified set of talking points drafted for Donald Rumsfeld in preparation for a November 27, 2001 meeting with Tommy Franks -- to plan the invasion of Iraq, less than three months after 9/11. "Focus on WMD" it begins helpfully, before moving into a skeletal battle plan. Then comes the interesting part:
How start?
Saddam moves against Kurds in north?
U.S. discovers Saddam connection to Sept. 11 attack or to anthrax attacks?
Dispute over WMD inspections?
Start thinking now about inspection demands.
The ensuing inspection demands were largely met, and no WMD were found. I wonder how the memos read at that point.