Prescience or Common Sense - Revisiting the Iraq War

Before I discovered the joys of blogging, I frequently wrote letters to the editor of the New York Times. I did not write because I wanted to be published. Indeed, the New York Times won't publish two letters from the same author within six months of each other. I believed (and still do) that a paper's editors read every letter and are at least influenced by the volume of letters they receive on any given topic.

Looking back at the letters I wrote concerning Iraq, I keep asking "how is it I saw this coming, but George Bush, and his advisors couldn't see it?" How did they get this war past so many smart people, when they were so obviously wrong or lying about so many things?

Happily, the most recent NIE has likely ended the possibility that Bush will invade Iran. However, it is painfully obvious that he does not intend to end the war in Iraq during the year and 25 days he will remain in office.

With the coming political season a review of some of the Bush administration's outstanding mistakes of strategic and political judgment is warranted. For what it is worth, what follows are letters to the editor of the New York Times that I wrote during the period March 2003 through May 2006.