Actually, it turns out that they were planning on attacking Afghanistan before 9/11 too. The administration's planning for the war against Afghanistan actually started (at the latest) in March, 2001 (per Janes Defense Weekly (subscription required)), a full six months before 9-11 and less than two months after taking power. As well, there are a couple foreign articles reporting on the US planning action against Afghanistan.....before 9/11. news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south...550366.stm
Bush signed a document which details plans for attacking Afghanistan (NSPD-9), on September 4th. So that an American oil pipeline from the Caspian sea could be built through Afghanistan.

The Caspian sea has an estimated 200 billion barrels of untapped oil. A very nice payday for someones oil company. Only problem is that it would have to be piped across Iran (not going to happen). The alternative was piping it through Afghanistan, while war torn, it was still more politically feasible for the US than Iran.

Then Clinton dropped bombs on trainging camps in Afghanistan and UNOCAL dropped out on trying to obtain the oil. UNOCAL was critical if any american companies were to get their hands on the oil.

"On March 18, 2002, the Chicago Tribune reported that U.S. military bases in Afghanistan had been largely positioned along the proposed route for the pipeline through that country. Widely reported in the foreign press, it was a mere footnote in the American press. " www.wanttoknow.info/02031...ibune.html
www.uexpress.com/tedrall/...e=20040106

And surprise, surprise after Afghanistan is attacked and the Taliban scattered, UNOCAL gets a contract for piping oil from the Caspian sea through Afghanistan. It should also be noted that the Current president of Afghanistan (Karzai) used to be a high up dude in UNOCAL. The current US 'special envoy' to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, was also a high up in UNOCAL.

I submit that the attack on Afghanistan was the US' first war for oil. It would have happened with or without 9/11(NSPD-9). 9/11 just made it occur on the frontpage rather than page 80.