Paul Krugman: Promises Not Kept - How did it all go so wrong?

[kpete]

Paul Krugman: Promises Not Kept-How did it all go so wrong?

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How did it all go so wrong? The diversion of resources into a gratuitous war in Iraq is certainly a large part of the story. Although administration officials continue to insist that the invasion of Iraq somehow made sense as part of a broadly defined war on terror, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has just released a report confirming that Saddam Hussein regarded Al Qaeda as a threat, not an ally; he even made attempts to capture Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

But Iraq doesn’t explain it all. Even though the Bush administration was secretly planning another war in early 2002, it could still have spared some troops to provide security and allocated more money to help the Karzai government. As in the case of planning for postwar Iraq, however, Bush officials apparently refused even to consider the possibility that things wouldn’t go exactly the way they hoped.

These days most agonizing about the state of America’s foreign policy is focused, understandably, on the new enemies we’ve made in Iraq. But let’s not forget that the perpetrators of 9/11 are still at large, five years later, and that they have re-established a large safe haven.

http://welcome-to-pottersville.blogspot.com/2006/09/paul-krugman-promises-not-kept.html

[Danascot]

1. Krugman nails it

This piece needs to be read by everyone.

K&R

[gratuitous]

2. Iraq isn't a "gratuitous" war!

I've got another one I'm fomenting: The war on war.