Illini said:
If you think the gov't wanted 9/11 to happen, then I feel sorry for you.
You obviously never heard of "The Project for a New America Century". The group was founded in 1997.
In open letters to Clinton and GOP congressional leaders in 1998, the group called for "the removal of Saddam Hussein's regime from power" and a shift toward a more assertive U.S. policy in the Middle East, including the use of force if necessary to unseat Saddam.
In a report just before the 2000 election, the group predicted that the shift would come about slowly, unless there were "some catastrophic and catalyzing event, like a new Pearl Harbor."
Of those that signed these letters, 10 went on to become part of the Bush administration, including Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Paul Wolfowitz. Others included William Krystol, Richard Perle, along with nominee for UN Ambassador John Bolton.
It is naive to think that there weren't those in the highest levels of government that weren't hoping for a "catastrophic and catalyzing event". They even wrote it down.