IRAQ: A CASE OF DECEPTION, ARROGANCE, AND STUPIDITY

NEO-CONS: DIMMER THAN YOU THINK
Or: Didn't you see this coming?

As it becomes all the more evident that the invasion and occupation of Iraq was a catastrophic miscalculation with extremely long-term consequences and no relief in sight from our allies abroad, we at the American Assembler thought it would be instructive to revisit the months preceding the Iraq war to see if there were any warnings the Bush administration could have drawn upon to foresee the potential for what can now only be described as the Iraq disaster.

U.S. Gen. to Iraq: Stop Attacks
Fallujah, Iraq -- America's top general in the Middle East has warned community leaders the U.S. military will use stern measures unless they curb attacks against coalition forces, an Iraqi who attended the meeting said Monday.

State Dept. Study Foresaw Trouble Now Plaguing Iraq
By ERIC SCHMITT and JOEL BRINKLEY
"The period immediately after regime change might offer these criminals the opportunity to engage in acts of killing, plunder and looting," the report warned, urging American officials to "organize military patrols by coalition forces in all major cities to prevent lawlessness, especially against vital utilities and key government facilities."

A Risky Strain on an Overstretched Army
Apparently, over 60% of the public still thinks George Bush is doing a good job fighting terrorism. As recent polls suggest, this is about the only thing people think Bush&Co are doing well.

But in their article for the WP, retired Marine Gen. Joseph Hoar, a former commander of U.S. Central Command, and retired Air Force Col. Richard Klass have laid out precisely why George Bush's war on Iraq and his foreign policy in general have made Americans much less safe.

SELECTIVE INTELLIGENCE
by SEYMOUR M. HERSH
Donald Rumsfeld has his own special sources. Are they reliable?

THE SPIES WHO PUSHED FOR WAR
Julian Borger reports on the shadow right wing intelligence network set up in Washington to second-guess the CIA and deliver a justification for toppling Saddam Hussein by force.
The Guardian

Halliburton's Deals Greater Than Thought
Halliburton, the company formerly headed by Vice President Cheney, has won contracts worth more than $1.7 billion under Operation Iraqi Freedom and stands to make hundreds of millions more dollars under a no-bid contract awarded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, according to newly available documents.

Cheney is still paid by Haliburton
The payments, which appear on Mr Cheney's 2001 financial disclosure statement, are in the form of "deferred compensation" of up to $1m a year.

Cheney's Crude Oil Documents
All through the Iraq buildup, war, and occupation, the U.S. government has insisted that oil had nothing to do with it.

The "This is a bad idea" Archive
A collection of articles which demonstrate incontrovertibly that the Bushies should have known the invading and occupying Iraq would be a bad mistake

• Top Republicans Break With Bush on Iraq Strategy
• Spy agencies foresaw Iraq resistance
• Some Top Military Brass Favor Status Quo in Iraq
• Ancient Cradle of Civilization Has Resisted Occupiers for Millenniums
• Pentagon, GOP Leaders Oppose Iraq Invasion
• Level with us, Mr. President By Edward Kennedy
• Iraq war could engulf region, Britain warns US
• Eagleburger questions possible Iraqi move
• Don't Attack Saddam by Brent Scowcroft
• Bush and father at odds over Iraq strike From Tim Reid in Washington
• Army fear over Blair war plans
• Below the Beltway: Neo-Cons vs. New York Times