U.S. intelligence agencies warned the Bush administration in early 2003 that invading Iraq could create internal conflict that would give Iran and al Qaeda new opportunities to expand their influence, according to an upcoming Senate report.
Officials familiar with the Senate Intelligence Committee investigation also say analysts warned against U.S. domination in the region, which could increase extremist recruiting.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the report's declassification is not finished. It could be made public as soon as this week.
The committee also found that the warnings predicting what would happen after the U.S.-led invasion were circulated widely in government, including to the Defense Department and the Office of the Vice President. It wasn't clear whether President Bush was briefed.
It wasn't clear? I'll make it clear: President Bush was briefed on it and he was too extremist and stupid to take the advice. Or he was such a second-hand patsy that it wouldn't have made any difference.
I met a writer for the Weekly Standard recently and he, a helluva nice and very smart guy, was big on the "What's done is done" thing that is very popular among "some people." There is of course truth to that, but it ignores something so fundamentally human: that examining our past is how we learn from our mistakes. And this is one of the big ones.
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