Frontline: Truth, War, and Consequences (washingtonpost.com): "Those who planned and lobbied for this war have ambitions for reforming the entire political landscape of the Middle East. They believe that if a successful democracy can be established in Iraq, that other countries, especially Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran will be positively affected. They see ridding the Middle East of Saddam as step one in reaching such longterm goals as democratic reform in Saudi Arabia and peace between Israel and Palestine. I don't think that it was a war fought purely to prevent an attack. In fact, I think some in the administration were not that worried about Saddam's immediate WMD capability or his links with al Qaeda. It's simply that post-9/11 the most effective way to mobilize popular opinion behind this war was to speak about the threat Saddam posed to the region, to the West and the United States. "