BUSH'S MISTAKE

[luckyleftyme2]

IRAQ,HE TURNED VICTORY INTO DEFEAT BY NOT DOUBLING FORCE RIGHT AFTER TAKING BAGHDAD.
He choose the same path Russia did in AFGHANISTAN. TO LITTLE,TO CHEAP AND THE RESULT
IS THE SAME! THEY ARE SIMPLY OUT MANEUVERING US AND WEARING US DOWN.
MOST OF OUR HGHEST MILLITARY RANKING PEOPLE HAVE SAID THERE IS NO MILLITARY SOLUTION
TO WIN.

[Crazy Dave]

1. I watched a documentary about the Russian/Afghan war

It's a big shame for the nation everyone once feared. Their war museum for that campaign is hidden in a small apartment and run by a few ex-soldiers. The one thing that the soldiers who fought in that war echo was that they were told by their political leaders that it would be a "cake-walk" and that the Afghan people "would welcome them open arms". Since most of Russia's citizens and soldiers were more isolated back then without access to a free media they believed everything they were told and it was beyond belief and even comprehension when things went wrong or not the way they were told it would.

[acmavm]

2. NO. HIS MISTAKE IS ATTACKING AN DEFENSELESS AND INNOCENT

POPULACE IN THE FIRST PLACE.

I can scream too.

[Arugula Latte]

4. Agreed -- I'm amazed the OP thinks the problem with Iraq is our post-invasion strategy.

No, the problem is slaughtering tens of thousands of innocents for cynical political reasons and to enrich Halliburton, Blackwater, etc.,to establish permanent bases and to fulfill neocon PNAC wet dreams of U.S. corporate domination of the area.

[teamster633]

3. Bush's mistake is the result of a character flaw(one of many)---

He's a bully. He looked out over our enemies and guessed that Saddam would be the easiest one to beat. He wasn't going to get into a fight he wasn't "sure" he could win. He was determined to prove his manhood as a war pResident. Unfortunately, his assessment was superficial and ignored some pretty obvious problems any invaders would be certain to encounter. Iraq, as a country, is an artificial construct. It only remained whole while tightly controlled by an authoritarian thug. That was fine with us as long as we could exert a reasonable amount of influence on this thug. When Saddam turned against the West, he was no longer acceptable to us. At the same time, we could not just replace him with some new thug; it would give lie to one of our pretenses for going to war in the first place. So while getting rid of Saddam was easy, gaining anything of any advantage to us beyond that was impossible in the first place. It should not have taken a lot insight to see this from the outset. Unfortunately for all of us, it took more than Little Boots was capable of.