U.S. Shifts Rhetoric On Its Goals in Iraq (washingtonpost.com): " a different rationale for the war against Saddam Hussein: using Iraq as the 'linchpin' to transform the Middle East and thereby reduce the terrorist threat to the United States. " Finally, a little truth! They had to make up a bunch of reasons to build up support. Really when you think about it, it is very common. Some would say it is very defensible.

the United States would spread its values through Iraq and the Middle East much as it transformed Europe in the second half of the 20th century

Condoleezza Rice compared the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon to Pearl Harbor