Allan, the part that gets me isn’t whether there was WMD. I agree, lots thought he did on both Rep and Dem sides, here and abroad. ‘Slam Dunk’, as Tenet said.
The part that gets me was how they much they shaded the intel to support their reasoning and direction. They disregarded contrary evidence, and discredited and demoted those who disagreed. Exercise in self-delusion and failure of leadership.
Also, the degree to which they selectively used bits and pieces to support the WHIG ‘backstory’ was in essence, dishonest. It was presented (marketed) to the American people in a way that was dishonest, and quite possibly, they were deluding themselves as well. War and peace isn’t like selling soap.
On balance, I think we over-reacted with our ME policy, and we should have left Saddam there, boxed in, beaten down, bomb him every once in a while, use him against Tehran, just keep him on a leash. He’s a good excuse to get military every once in a while. And we should have focused on AQ in A/P.
With Iraq, I think the substantive change (peaceful self-rule by the Iraqi people) would have occurred over time, along the lines of Eastern Europe. Not sure what will happen now, but I think it’s less of a priority than Pakistan/Afghanistan.
