If you accept the premise that we needed to go in when we did, which is obviously a highly questionable notion, on the timing alone, then the question then is, was this war and its ensuing occupation managed as efficiently as one expect and demands from the situation?
Clearly not. What's galling to me is the arrogance displayed by certain folks in the administration- Rumsfield and Wolfowitz in particular- even at a time when they were so patently screwing the pooch over there.
On the other hand, I don't think it's possible to have managed this in such a manner that success would have resulted. It was botched, yes, but assuming you're already in Iraq, I think you're already screwed.
For instance- not stopping the looting quicker was a mistake. I don't think stopping it would have prevented the insurgency, though.
I really don't think there was any possible way to achieve what we want over there, except by some miracle. Which is one reason it was such a mistake to get involved in the first place. Creating an American style democracy "within a year" in Iraq was fantasy from the get go. Impossible.
"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."
Clearly not. What's galling to me is the arrogance displayed by certain folks in the administration- Rumsfield and Wolfowitz in particular- even at a time when they were so patently screwing the pooch over there.
On the other hand, I don't think it's possible to have managed this in such a manner that success would have resulted. It was botched, yes, but assuming you're already in Iraq, I think you're already screwed.
For instance- not stopping the looting quicker was a mistake. I don't think stopping it would have prevented the insurgency, though.
I really don't think there was any possible way to achieve what we want over there, except by some miracle. Which is one reason it was such a mistake to get involved in the first place. Creating an American style democracy "within a year" in Iraq was fantasy from the get go. Impossible.
"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."