Frank Rich: The Ides of March 2003

[cal04]

TOMORROW night is the fourth anniversary of President Bush’s prime-time address declaring the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In the broad sweep of history, four years is a nanosecond, but in America, where memories are congenitally short, it’s an eternity. That’s why a revisionist history of the White House’s rush to war, much of it written by its initial cheerleaders, has already taken hold. In this exonerating fictionalization of the story, nearly every politician and pundit in Washington was duped by the same “bad intelligence” before the war, and few imagined that the administration would so botch the invasion’s aftermath or that the occupation would go on so long.

“If only I had known then what I know now ...” has been the persistent refrain of the war supporters who subsequently disowned the fiasco. But the embarrassing reality is that much of the damning truth about the administration’s case for war and its hubristic expectations for a cakewalk were publicly available before the war, hiding in plain sight, to be seen by anyone who wanted to look.

By the time the ides of March arrived in March 2003, these warning signs were visible on a nearly daily basis. So were the signs that Americans were completely ill prepared for the costs ahead. Iraq was largely anticipated as a distant, mildly disruptive geopolitical video game that would be over in a flash.

Now many of the same leaders who sold the war argue that escalation should be given a chance. This time they’re peddling the new doomsday scenario that any withdrawal timetable will lead to the next 9/11. The question we must ask is: Has history taught us anything in four years?

Here is a chronology of some of the high and low points in the days leading up to the national train wreck whose anniversary we mourn this week (with occasional “where are they now” updates).

more
http://wealthyfrenchman.blogspot.com/2007/03/ides-of-march-2003.html

[tinfoilinfor2005]

1. Just finished reading this.

I honestly feel a little ill.

[TheConstantGardener]

2. Are thinkers like him willing to go the leap

And call the war immoral? Or should it be judged on how "easy" it is to conquer Iraq? These mainstream media jokes are starting to really piss me off.

[gristy]

3. That's quite a summary. But what's Frank Rich doing over at

www.wealthyfrenchman.blogspot.com???

[NJCher]

4. Frenchman sometimes posts

Frank's columns, as readers have to pay for them if they get them at the Times site.



Cher

[riderinthestorm]

5. The "wealthy" frenchman pays Rich for the access

to his columns that NYT readers would have to pay, imho. Obviously the wealthy frenchman considers Rich's columns to be so important that there must be access to anyone who doesn't want to/can't afford the NYT subscription rate.

[DemReadingDU]

6. afternoon kick