On September 4, 2001, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice met with Bush administration principals to devise a plan to go after al-Qaeda. “Six days later, on September 10 [2001], Rice forwarded the al-Qaeda strategy to Bush, while her deputy, Stephen Hadley, convened the number-two officials of the national security departments to advance a separate but complementary plan to target the Taliban in Afghanistan by helping their opponents and devising covert action to topple the government from within and eliminate al-Qaeda bases.”
– Peter Baker, Days of Fire, Page 115