[PornoDoggy]

I thought that anyone who suggested that the invasion of Iraq was going to be difficult was on some serious drugs in the first place. If we're giving out grades, I'd give a 70% to the invasion, and a big fat zero to the occupation. That does not reflect poorly on the soldiers, airmen, marines, sailors and coasties serving and/or fighting over there - but it does reflect on the politicians (in and out of uniform - you don't get beyond a single star without being more of a whore than a Congressman).

The mistake was not in failing to run al Jezera out, the mistake was not in recognizing holy places - the mistake included sending in 1/3 (or less) the number of troops to properly occupy the country. The mistake included making sure the first builiding in Baghdad to receive U.S. attention was the Oil Ministry. The mistake included insisting that resistance to the occupation was strictly (or even primarilly) "foreign fighters." The mistake included listening exclusively to people saying what we wanted to hear.