The Idiot's Guide to Foreign Countries

[eilute]

(CNN) -- Donald Rumsfeld's Iraqi war plan worked beautifully for three weeks. U.S. troops quickly deposed Saddam Hussein and captured Baghdad with a relatively small force and with lightning speed.

But with Iraq on the verge of civil war three years later, the secretary of defense now admits that no one was well-prepared for what would happen after major combat ended.

"Well, I think that anyone who looks at it with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight has to say that there was not an anticipation that the level of insurgency would be anything approximating what it is," Rumsfeld told CNN for the documentary, "CNN Presents Rumsfeld -- Man of War," which debuts Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/09/28/rumsfeld.profile/index.html

I'm not saying I anticipated, okay I did anticipate it. But I did think it would be more organized, and more Bathist/Sunni.

My point:
The U.S. unjustly invaded another country with a different culture and imposed their system of government. Who in their right mind would have thought that this would go off with out a hitch? I mean Rumsfeld is in his seventies. Doesn't he remember the Reagan building?

 

[znaps]

I remember having a discussion with my republican friend about this about this years ago and asking him if he wasn't scared that Iraq was not ready to accept democracy, and that the place could turn into a haven for terrorists. I guess either Rumsfeld is an idiot, or I'm some sort of genius.

 

[Rainsford]

Not only is Rumsfeld an idiot, he is, as Bush administration officials so often are, lying. A survey of the pre-war studies drawn up by military and civilian experts and mentioned several times by higher-ups in both the uniformed and civilian worlds of the government CLEARLY said Iraq could face insurgency and civil unrest problems if we didn't take certain steps in the first few months of the war. The Bush administration firmly inserted their fingers into their ears and started humming, invading Iraq the way THEY wanted to (no elitist experts for them!), didn't do the things necessary to stop an insurgency from forming...and would you look at that, we've got an insurgency AND a civil war. Who would have thought that would have happened?!?

Why this guy is STILL secretary of defense is beyond me, he couldn't defend a Wal-Mart parking lot.

 

[Zorba]

have you ever noticed everytime the Bush admin screws up they always claim "I don't think anybody could've anticipated blank." When is reality everyone DID anticipate what happened. Another example: "I don't think anyone could've anticipated the levees failing in New Orleans." LOL Everyone with half a brain knew those levees could fail.

 

[randym431]

How about Rice calling the PDB on Bin Laden a "historical" docu. Why dont they just admit Bush did not read it...? BYW, PDB = Presidents Daily Briefing. A must read for any child in the big seat.

Then the first reaction when that first plane hit, Bush said "must have been some screwy pilot".

 

[zephyrprime]

Tons of people anticipated this level of insurgancey. Basic the entire George H Bush administration anticipated it.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: zephyrprime
Tons of people anticipated this level of insurgancey. Basic the entire George H Bush administration anticipated it.

Exactly. Bush Sr. knew the region quite well. Bush Sr. saw what happened in Afghanistan in the 80s and knew the same would happen one country over in Iraq. Bush Sr. had it all right. Bush Jr. is the opposite.

 

[BrownTown]

All you have to do is look at every single other instance of a western power trying to invade a muslim region and it is pretty apparent what will happen.