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The Iraq War: It was all predictable

Posted: Monday, March 19, 2007 5:06 PM by Hardball

The lazy story of the Iraq War is that nobody expected it.

Nobody thought it would be so unpopular.  Nobody thought it would cause so much division in this country.  Nobody thought it would cause so much of the world to condemn us.

But leaders are not supposed to be nobodies.  They’re supposed to know things.

We ought to have known that going into Iraq would lack the world support that President Bush’s father enjoyed in the Persian Gulf War.  It was clear as early as December of 2001 that going into Iraq would “forfeit” the global support we enjoyed in the weeks after September 11.  It would mean “a hard division” here at home.  I just came across those assessments I made back then as a columnist for The San Francisco Chronicle:

"By the late summer of 2002, even before Congress voted to authorize the Iraq War, a Washington Post poll showed that division beginning to show itself. Asked whether they supported war if it would involve “significant casualties,” 51 percent, said “no.”   Okay, we were fifty-fifty on the war even six months before the shooting started."

People like to say on this fourth anniversary of the war that we never thought it would this bloody.  But in the Aug. 25, 2002, column where I quoted this poll number, I painted a vivid scenario of what would follow after the promised “cake walk” of the actual invasion.

 “Our troops in Baghdad morph into a constabulary force. Their mission: guard streets, shoot snipers, arrest the suspicious, keep order, find the Hussein loyalists, round up the members of his ruling party, root out plots, battle the terrorists.” 

The way our enemies in the Islamic world would exploit our occupation of Iraq was equally predictable.  

 “A mission to attack one isolated enemy will end up isolating us. A mission justified by the fight with terrorism will give birth to millions of terrorist-supporting haters.  In every café from Manila to Casablanca, just whom do you think they will be rooting for?  Just whom will their kids be killing themselves for?”

We Americans have lost over 3,000 of our young people.  24,000 have been wounded.  One estimate by Johns Hopkins University has the count at 139,000 Iraqis dead in this war.

What part of this was hard to predict?  That an invaded country would resent, resist and finally fight the invader?  That the Shia would fight the Sunni?  That America would not end up taking the blame?

 It was all predictable. 

 

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Comments

Very Predictable and very repetitive. The very sad and most concerning aspect of the Iraq war is how gullable the American people are. Every war starts with a goverment selling it to its' people. Proclaiming that there is a security threat and then questioning the peoples patriotism. It is just that easy to get a nation of gullable people to go to war. WAKE UP! This is how every war through out history has been sold. The Communists did not take over the world when we did not stop them in Vietnam. There were a lot of people that were gullable and believed that would happen, because that is what we were told. Now we are being told that terorists will follow us home unless we stop them in the middle east. Out of respect for the over 3000 GIs, 100,000 Iraq civilians killed. Please spend a little time and investigate how you are being played for fools, for beleiving the lies this time. Gullable = Ignorance

David R. Smith, Newport, Oregon (Sent Monday, March 19, 2007 10:17 PM)

As I look back at the the last 4 years in Iraq, I recall a scene from a 1975 movie with Robert Redford and Cliff Robertson - "3 Days of the Condor": Turner: Do we have plans to invade the Middle East? Higgins: No. Absolutely not. We have games. That's all. We play games. What if? How many men? What would it take? Is there a cheaper way to destabilize a regime? That's what we're paid to do. Turner: Boy, what is it with you people? You think not getting caught in a lie is the same thing as telling the truth? Higgins: No. It's simple economics. Today it's oil, right? In ten or fifteen years, food. Plutonium. And maybe even sooner. Now, what do you think the people are gonna want us to do then? Turner: Ask them. Higgins: Not now — then! Ask 'em when they're running out. Ask 'em when there's no heat in their homes and they're cold. Ask 'em when their engines stop. Ask 'em when people who have never known hunger start going hungry. You wanna know something? They won't want us to ask 'em. They'll just want us to get it for 'em!" Of course it was all predictable. It's always predictable when people play games that go too far.

Chuck Kulig, Arlington Heights, Illinois (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 7:49 AM)

Amen. Indeed, leaders are not supposed to be nobodies. Very well said. There was no doubt that the administration heard/knew/was advised on just about what you said. But greed, arrogance, lust for power etc. trumped everything else. As they say, power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.

j. brownski. chicago, IL (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 7:56 AM)

It is so convenient that so many members of the media and our prominient politicians now claim that it was "predictable" - or "I was not given all the facts". As a former Harball viewer, a person with first hand experience in teh Middle East and a war dobter from day one, I remember distinctly the air time the producers of the program gave to the adminstration-friendly war cheerleaders. And I remember Chris Matthews' consent to the war. Mr. Matthews - you are not being in tellectually honest with your role the war.

Martin Murphy, Honolulu, HI (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 8:02 AM)

Ahhh, Chris... I have been untractably, unrelentingly opposed to this war from Day One not because of all of the points you raise, but because of the simple factor that we were blatantly lied to in order to gain our support (I didn't swallow it while they were telling it to me. I will never forgive Colin Powell-the only one I trusted, for his complicity in this charade). Nothing that's occurred after that matters to me, even if we were having some successes. The fact that we aren't-we're falling down miserably, in fact-is simply more a testament to the lies we were fed to get us there. How can you build any success when you laid the foundation on a house of cards?

Lisa Keenan, South Portland, ME (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 8:08 AM)

I agree that the turn of events that have followed the invasion of Iraq were predictable from the very beginning, but the only administration official to even hint of a warning was Secretary of State Colin Powell who told the President "If you break it, you own it." From the moment the U.S. military allowed thieves to break into the national museum in Baghdad and did nothing about it, this war was on a slide downhill. Well, we own Iraq now and we're paying for it in blood.

Gary Beaubouef, Alexandria, Louisiana (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 8:24 AM)

In anticipation of a humanitarian crisis I was stationed in Amman in January 2003. I am a regular guy, a mid-level manager of communications, not a political heavyweight, but even back then I could have told you what was going to happen. While waiting for the war, we aid workers, would talk and it was pretty easy to see that taking out the long-term strong man in a diversely ethnic & religious country was going to create a huge vacuum and given the history of violence in that part of the world, is it any surprise that it has devolved into a civil war. The icing on the cake is the world generally hates America (for decades of imperialistic foreign policy) and knows the U.S leader is a fool and a liar. Do the math. And read Nial Ferguson's Collossus which details how America has done the same stupid crap many times before. Now I've been assigned to return to the middle east to help the tens of thousands of Iraqi refugees scattered about. Thanks George. Thanks Sam. Idiots! Next time choose a country with a really really crazy leader, like Zimbabwe. No oil there however. And who cares about Africans.

Steve (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 8:36 AM)

I wrote my congressman before the war started and told him that occupying Iraq would make Beriut look like a sunday school picnic. He voted for it anyway. I was living in Florida at the time.

Rufus Gibbons, Kennett, Mo. (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 8:36 AM)

I totally agree

sylvia coder columbus, ohio (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 8:38 AM)

Mr Matthews I am a veteran of the Iraq War, I retired from the US Army in 2004. I was with the 101st Airborne Divison up in Mosul. I was and still not a supporter of the war, as a soldier you could see the problems the Iraqis had within the community, especially when coaches of a soccer team steels or sells the other teams uniform, or when you go to a school and want to see equipment that the Americans brought for the Iraqis, and then come to find out they sold the equipment. Then come find out the American soldiers is wasting money for equipment he or she wants instead equipment they need. Then the retirement list grew in July after the division found out they we would stay there for a year. This go backs to the early 1990 with the drawdown of the armed forces after the first Gulf War. Alot of good soldiers and leader took the bonus and ran or got QMP (kicked-out),then the Army leaders wanted a laxed Army. Then you have a administration who don't know what the hell is going on and playing polticial games with the American soldiers lives, and the total disrespect of the American people. All this is wasted money and American lives.

Ed G. Milwaukee, WI (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 8:39 AM)

GB Sr was too timid to pursue Hussein in Desert Storm and knew his own limitations in taking on that region's can of worms.Anyway his oil interests were in Kuwait, not Irag. Our tax dollars and military preserved the family wealth. Jr marches to a different drummer-he really feels he has a divine mission to bring democracy and capitalism wrapped in Christian principles to that area.There are other motives (oil) behind the invasion and never spoken about but apparently GW and his military immune advisers never had a clue how to wrap up the ballgame- Hopefully, God is still in control of this mess.

Jack Richardson, Camp Wood, Tx (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 8:42 AM)

The passion and hatred that it takes to blow ones self up should have,at the least,given this country pause before becoming occupiers in a muslim nation. This should have reminded us of WW2 and Japan,and it took two atomic weapons to end that one.

Jay, Stonaham,Mass (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 8:47 AM)

we are at war!!!!!!!! people die.... so don,t think your a genuis because you predicted the outcome...

bob franks,little rock, ar (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 8:56 AM)

Certianly it was predictable, but what was not predictable was that the majority of Americans would re-elect Geroge W. Bush for 4 more years.

S Prabhudas (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 8:58 AM)

I remember watching Colin Powell's address to the U.N. - you know, the one that was universally considered the slam dunk for war with Iraq? - and the whole steamroll toward war, and I remember thinking, "Is this the new standard for going to War with another nation? Has the bar really been lowered that far?" It used to be that all-out war was out of the question unless the country in question was a direct threat to us or our allies in the area. And here we were rushing to war because a dictator MIGHT be thinking bad thoughts about SOMEDAY acquiring dangerous weapons. I was shocked by how many people in this country were willing to have us make the ultimate sacrifice with minimal justification, and how willing the press was to swallow the pill. Not to mention the willingness of our citizens to accept the very rosiest of scenarios for victory and withdrawal. Wasn't it obvious from the beginning that we weren't going to go in there with "shock and awe" force only to just leave and let the chips fall where they may? It wasn't ever going to happen, yet somehow very few had the vision to see it or the courage to say it. We were there from the beginning to not only rid Iraq of Saddam, but to remake the country in our own image. Did people really believe that was going to happen in 6 months? A year? Two years? And did the Bush administration really believe that it was going to happen so effortlessly that we didn't even need a plan to make it happen? Maybe something can be taken away from this disaster if a lesson can be learned for future generations. But then that's just more wishful thinking.

J.C., Michigan (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 8:59 AM)

Chris, yup you were right as rain. My political outlook is internationalist, so "conservative" and "liberal" don't mean much to me. When the war expanded into Iraq I only appreciated that at last the United States was publicly committed to maintaining a presence in the Mid-East, for the first time in fifty years. I figured that the military operations would gradually be backed by behind-the-scenes diplomatic activities. But last year I finally realized half of the State Department has become only a subdivision of the Defense Department, the other half has become a blue-nose tea room where mention of "black ops" is considered worse than cursing in public. I also realized the managers in the Defense Department have insinuated themselves and their families into our society as a permanent class of aristocrats. These jokers would rather spend $300 billion on a war in Iraq than to spend $250 thousand to fund an assassination of Saddam Hussein. Don't let anyone tell you assassinations don't work --the days when Defense and State worked in cooperation must've died with John Kennedy. I believe in the American people, as we really are. To me, now, the government, whether controlled by conservatives or liberals, is only an injury we learn to live with.

Samuel F. Reynolds, Austin, Texas (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 9:25 AM)

It's always easy to be a Monday Morning Quarterback. Tell me, Oh Great and All Knowing Chris Matthews - what would YOU have done if faced with the same quandry as president Bush after 9/11?

Paul - Omaha (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 9:25 AM)

Amen! Only the misguided Haliburton oil mongering Republican neocon elite couldn't see this coming from a mile away. Probably because of the dollar signs in their eyes! They were so out of touch then and they still are today.

Curtis Hammond, Charlotte, NC (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 9:29 AM)

If the Iraq war was so predictable, then why did the media, yourself included Mr. Matthews, act as cheerleaders for it, rather than as objective journalists? The media has much responsibility on its shoulders for following the Bush administration's lead and whipping up mindless "patriotism" in the public that stifled reasoned debate on our country's response to 9/11. I hope now and in the future, the media will uphold its duty to inform the public rather than exploit it.

kaustin (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 9:30 AM)

You have voiced one of my great fustrations. If you were paying attention at all - this was no surprise. I listened to the pro's and con's - It was apparent to me that the pro's had no background in the region, didn't understand their history, didn't understand their culture and were dismissive of anyone who did. I listened to people who spoke the language, had contacts and had lived in the region, understood the history say that this would be a quagmire - guess who I listened to. The absolute arragance of this administration in particular is astounding. I lived through the Nixon impeachment, the Clinton impeachment and this is the first impeachment that seemed worth the trouble. Where is the accountability? A mistake is hitting the wrong key - this was no such mistake it was a concentrated effort launched by incompetent individuals, blessed by a delusional president and a machiavellian vice-president, supported by a cabal of neo-cons.

Ellen Waukon, Boyceville, WI (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 9:43 AM)

I remember Chris Matthews as an applogist, if not an over confident stooge, for the Bush/Cheney propaganda machine. I also remember the day he dressed down the administration when he saw the light. If he knew, why didn't he resist the war histeria and expose it as a manipulation?

John Doe, Seattle, Wash (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 9:47 AM)

You're not the only who who made predictions...I predicted in an email to a friend, back in 2002: "...just wait, as soon as things get difficult, or ugly, or messy, our politicians will start the 'backout' process. Could you imagine what would have happened during WWII with this generation? Oh no, lost too many at IWO, we should withdraw back to Pearl. Oops, too many lost in Normandy, let's hold here on the beaches, and engage the Germans in talks..." We are not being resisted as an invader. We are fighting a true handful of knuckleheads out of a population of over 20 million people. We are winning the war over there, and war is ugly, and painful, and not sanitized. If we don't carry on, and win, then our children will live with the results of our lack of fortitude.

Steve Crichton (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 9:53 AM)

Makes you wonder where George W. Bush was during the peace and love 70's, Vietnam war. Did he see any of the movies that dealt with the horrors of war, postwar trama (those wounded and not wounded). I'm not a graduate of any University and I was able to predict how this mess in Irag would unfold. I canceled my TIME subscription when Bush was elected the first time anticipating the embarassment just to observe him in office, this was before 9/11 and Irag. Now I've resubscribed and at least regaining faith in the American people to come to their senses and get to the bottom of this catastrophic administration.

Patricia Bureau, FRANCE (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 9:58 AM)

The condemnation I have on the Bush administration is that they sold the war to the American people rather that debated the issue of going to war. And then to add further insult they attacked and sacked all who questioned them like the general who said more troops were needed or attacked them who disagreed with them like they did with outing the FBI lady. And while I supported the war it was not because of Weapons of Mass Destruction but because of their Weapons of Mass Disruption. If your shit leaks from your country, terrorist funding, attacking another country, then I support keeping the option of an invasion on the table. Sadaams shit had leaked for far too long and the time was right to get rid of him. And then to have the republicans jumping on the Nation Building band wagon and condemning Clinton's Nation Building is just so hippocritical of the Republicans. Yes if you are going to invade a country nation building is just part of the job. But very too faced of the Republican party to now be supporting nation building. When did it become so wrong just to go in and assassinate tyrants? It is time to reverse our assassination policy on heads of state, at least when we determine them to be tyrants. According to the recent book I read on Lincoln, Lincoln created a cabinet not with like minded people but with the people he ran against. People who would tell him not what he wanted to hear but what they believed themselves. Sadly Bush surrounded himself with people who only read from the same play book and any one else who read from a different play book was sacked or attacked. In truth I was impressed with Bushes cabinet selections and his first term was impressive. The Bush team seamed to be master political chess players. And Bushes second term started with me thinking he and the Republican machine were invinsible. Catholics bailed on the Democrate and it looked like they would be able to roll out more Christian Conservative Far Right principles but then the war came and the Bush political train just seemed to derail. What the heck happened to this administration? Did 9-11 turn this administration into distrusting communists. Did the wagons just encircle the Neo Conservatives with Bush in the middle and did the resulting GROUP THINK sink the decision making process.

Paul Helderle (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 10:01 AM)

March 20, 2007 Dear Chris Matthews: Hindsight is always clearer when you have the opportunity to look back. Let's not forget we took this course after 911, how soon WE forget! We were attacked by radicals first - count the number of attacks through the many years and not just the latest ones like the Twin Towers or USS Cole but others including the Embassy’s. We are not fighting just Iraq insurgency or single minded shier or Sunni in one nation, We are fighting an ideology that intends to kill off all faiths including Christians! It is obvious they are filled with hatred for anyone, and no one in particular – they have no value of Life, or this would not be going on anywhere. Speaking of over there – let’s not forget 911 was over here. Where now would you say you would rather fight them? Over there? Or Over here? The Congress voted to allow this President and our troops to go to war; did it ever occur to anyone including the Congress that when you open the "Flood gates" water will pour through, that you will get more than what you bargain for? The hatred between those tribes is historic; their hatred for America and our freedoms comes from having none of their own ever, and growing up in nothing but radical beliefs, killing and tyranny. This war will not be over even if we withdraw tomorrow - their hatred is centuries old and the hatred of free nations is not unique. We are not fighting one people -we are fighting all of the radicals in the Arab world and my very best guess is this is just the “tip of the iceberg” in years to come! Also, Never forget what country loves to spread their errors – Russia, and the latest poll suggests they have sold lot’s of weapons and technology to the Middle East and along with communist China – so I am convinced the horizon does not look peaceful at all and it will get worse, as long as these people are not for democracy what else is left for them? And as long as We are a free nation, we can not and should not think this is over just because we wish it so or we disagree with the President and the views of the Congress.

Jane Wallac, Groton CT (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 10:11 AM)

Mr. Matthews: I agree with your opinion regarding prediction of the outcome of the Iraq war. I'm just an ordinary citizen, sir, but I read a book called "The Desert Queen" (forgotten the author's name). It was a true story about a British woman called Gertrude Bell who lived and worked for many years in Iraq in the early 20th century. She came to love Iraq and it's people. She was working for the British Government trying to bring political agreement between the Suni, Shia,and Kurd people by negotiating with their leaders. A truly difficult task then as now. She was well respected and liked by these leaders as well as by the Iraqui people. It was an excellent book; very informative. If some of our leaders had read it much of what has happened now could have easily been predicted. I read this book in 2002 and have been against this war all along.

Pat Baughn, Saratoga, New York (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 10:18 AM)

I agree completely, and the Bushies got these predictions from Wise men and women in the State Department and the CIA, but simply chosse to ignore them, and instead choose to believe the whispers of the Chalabi and his pals that it would be a cake walk. regards, Duncster.

Duncan Nixon Reston, VA (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 10:21 AM)

Exactly right. Senior Bush said to invade Iraq would de stablalize the area. His son did not listen. They sold this war on false intellegence and lies and a poorly thought out plan

J D Matthews (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 10:33 AM)

Chris Matthews, Yes, the outcome of the Iraq War was very predictable. The anti-war movement forecasted the bloody outcome with astonshing accuracy and precision. This movement was given almost no voice in the mainstream media at the time of the run-up to the invasion, and still rarely receives any airtime. The weak Democratic Party response is not representative of the broader movement who tried to stop the invasion from taking place, and has fought the escalation ever since. There are numerous leaders and pivotal players who were able to predict the debacle years ago, and it is a great disservice to the wounded, dead, and soon to be dying, to not allow their voices to be heard, especially when these voices were the ones that could have stopped this tragic foreign policy years ago if the mainstream American public had only been allowed to hear what they were saying. Shame on all of us. Richard Haviland Kinnelon, NJ

Richard Haviland, Kinnelon, NJ (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 10:42 AM)

I watch your show and for the most part agree with your positions. I agree with your all of your predictions noted here and I am and have been adamantly against this incursion into Iraq.Your predictions also reflect just some of the blantant lies this administration has fed to the American people. What I find difficult to understand is why has the media (not just you) have been reluctant to pointedly attack this administration, it's policies, it's hypocritical behaviours, and it's very reckless endangerment of our constitution, our values and our country. The political machine cannot be attacked and brought to task today as it was during Vietnam as there is no draft, no need for rebellion. The press / media now needs to lead a rebellion against how this administration is behaving and lead the drive to make them accountable at the highest level.Not simply carry on discussions and pander to both sides. Take a position and fight for it. There is no right in this issue / only wrong and the media needs to help push this. Our country is disintegrating before our eyes and Bush is promoting Iraq needs before ours.How can this be. "We the People" need your (media) help to overcome this insane direction Bush has taken us on.

Robert J Mowery (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 10:42 AM)

That is exactly the problem - Nobody wanted to predict it, or have anyone else predicting it either. Everybody who did found themselves quickly retired from public service. Everyone wanted to be a "loyal Bushie", and now we have a bunch of dead and crippled children to show for it. I don't know about you - but I'm going to run right out and vote straight Republican ticket in '08.

Bobby G., San Antonio, Tx (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 10:44 AM)

Absolutely right ! From the initial lies about WMD to the arrogant "cut and run traitors" espoused by the intellectual challenged, this war has been a fiasco from the first second we chose to invade a country for the flimsiest of reasons. Bush and his cohorts do not have a clue.....two more years ? Does the term "screwed" mean anything ?

A.B.B. Clemson, SC (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 10:47 AM)

This "war" is a bad joke getting worse! Today, all our troops are doing are acting as referee's between the Sunni's and Shite's civil war. The rest of the world hates us and we can thank Bush-Cheney for the mess. It's probably going to take 2 Presidents to clean up the mess & fix the mistakes Bush made. I'm so disgusted with Bush and the entire administration the only light at the end of the tunnel at this point is knowing we have the 22nd Ammendment in our Constitution.

John E., Miami, FL (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 10:48 AM)

The protests leading up to the war was a clear indicator that the war was going to be unpopular. The amount people who marched on the streets of New York were grossly underestimated by the media and their voice dampened. General Shinseki advocated the need for "several hundred thousand troops" to stabilize a post-war Iraq, and more importantly George Bush Sr. had a coalition of 660,000 troops without even sacking Baghdad! He knew the perils, it was clearly predictable...

Xander, Boston, MA (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 10:48 AM)

No doubt, the mess created by this administrations hubris was 100% predictable. Even Bush 1 understood that taking out Saddam would destabilize the entire region, which is precisely why he let him be after the Gulf War. How could the American people be so misguided as to follow this "leader"?? It is beyond belief that so many still support a man who has completely destroyed the image of America, at home and abroad. Can anyone reasonably conclude that our futures, and the futures of our children, have not been severely comprimised (if not totally ruined) by this pointless conflict? The only unpredictable part of this entire fiasco is how we will ever get out of it.

Bryce Pullano, Saratoga NY (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 10:48 AM)

the great shame is the incompetency of the Bush administration has made a difficult task seemingly impossible.

Andy Fleisch (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 10:52 AM)

I'm tired of hearing what we should have known. Either we didn't, or our leadership was blind, or stupid, or they were motivated by other factors. What do we do now is the relevent question. Stay focused on that.

Bill Mahoney, Madison, CT (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 10:52 AM)

Iraq was as predictable as Yugoslavia. Too many tribes, too many guns. Sunni Iraq needs about 10 more years to kill off the current adult population, and then we can deal with what remains. Our troops are only delaying the end, and they need to get out of the way, while we fund and arm the proxies.

Steve Sampson, Choctaw, Oklahoma (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 10:55 AM)

For you to write this now, without grovelling in apology for your conduct before the war and in the early days, is at best cowardly. After Sept. 11 when we went after Al Queida in Afghanistan the whole world was on our side. We had no good reason to go into Iraq. We took an all volunteer army that was the equivalent of a guided missile and wasted it like a crude wooden spear. We took over a trillion dollars out of our treasury. We have wasted our troops, we have wasted our hard earned dollars and we have wasted our credibility and the goodwill of much of the world. And you cheered it all on. Be ashamed.

Paul Staynor Memphis Tenn. (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 12:54 PM)

Chris, Excellent work! It was common sense that Iraq couldn't have posed a threat to the US. If, and I emphasize,(IF) Bush had more intelligence and I don't mean the kind from data, he would have marshalled the world support that we had just days after the attacks on 9/11; gone in after Bin laden, then point that power at Sadam, DONE. With the world on our side we could have averted thousands of dead young americans, and iraqis, and could have used that infuence to motivate the world community, including Iran and N Korea, to thwart terrorism. Bush blew it big time and we're going to suffer the consequenses.

Thomas Kelly (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 12:56 PM)

Some people and politicians may still have been emotionally overwhelmed when it came to voting on whether or not to go to war, but many citizens here and around the world knew we should not invade Iraq. Proof of that showed in the demonstrations against it. And there are no numbers available indicating the number of letters written to our polititicans and Bush begging them not to proceed with that insanity. Anyone with any common sense at all should have known that if Saddam had WMD, he would not just sit on them and let the US annihilate him. While a first-strike is generally unacceptable throughout the international community, to just sit and wait for destruction when you know it is coming would be an unnatural reaction if you have the weapons to defend yourself. And Saddam knew it was coming--all the world knew! This fiasco can be laid squarely on the shoulders of every member of Congress who voted to give "moron" the authority and the funds to invade and to continue the war. We have paid dearly in soldiers and funds and will continue to pay for many years to come. The war has become a breeding ground for more terrorists; and if anyone believes those young kids who have seen us destroy their country and their families will forget, they are living in la-la land. Those kids will remember; and when they grow up, they will reap destruction upon our children and grandchildren. Further, another result of this Iraqi war is one I haven't heard mentioned. While we have always been taught in school and through the media that the US is the greatest, most militarily powerful country in the world, many of us have been enlightened. Now we are disgusted with the US we see and have loved. And that hurts.

Kay, Jackson, Mississippi (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 1:01 PM)

Predictable, maybe, you make claim that the war is wrong, but what should we do? Should we just pull out, call it a day and let the Iraqi’s kill each other with religious cleansing. Would it be acceptable to leave without resolution? You seem to like to be so predictable in your response, you find it necessary to belittle the President and his way of doing things, but do you honestly believe you can do better. Your points are good for the argument, but that is all it should be. You take your words of negativism and despair of our country, the administration, and the war and use it to make your weekly paycheck count. But are you really addressing the truth or just your truth. You make claims of predicting the future by you and others on matters you really do not understand. To meet your predictive mind, here’s some prediction. I predict due to the people of the united states no longer interested in saving their lives from these international terrorist and tyrants, that the terrorist and Tyrants will conquer the world, Islam will become the dominate religion in the world. By 2020 or sooner, the world will be in a nuclear war, that the United States will not respond in kind, because we lost the will to fight and defend our freedom. That the first response will not be from the US, but from an allied defending their last rights to be a free nation. I predict (2009) that the Democratic Party will put into law the Selective Service Act, which will be established due to posture of our country not ready to fight or deal with world issues. DNC will find it necessary to quell concerns of the loss of our South American friends being invaded and over run by socialist tyrants and Islamic conversion of the population. To satisfy your thirst for more, I predict you will be demanding War, because we were attacked and hundreds of thousands of Americans are dead. You see, it’s easy to predict, so let it be written, so let it be done.

Dario Gonzalez, Buf, New York (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 1:13 PM)

Chris, you nailed it! As for the first responder to your column whose son is fighting in Iraq, as a former marine I salute him. Is he fighting the enemy? That is a question worth serious debate as we really are still not sure exactly whom it is we are fighting over there. Still, his willingness to serve his country, same as I did, in another unpopular war which I didn't agree with, is a true sign of his courage and dedication to country which any parent should be proud of. Having said this, as much as I admire the way this parent obviously raised his/her/their son, I still condemn this war as much if not more so than when it began. Predictable, like your original column for the San Francisco Chronicle, same as the sun rises and sets each day, many of us saw the same thing as you did. One has to ask daily, why didn't our leaders? Thank you for your thoughts and oppinions, keep on writing until we finally rid our top leadership of the vermin habitating a house once painted white. As ex-Sectretary of Defense Mr Donald R. went, so too will the rest follow if you continue with the education process of your columns; I salute you sir!

Leonard K., Las Vegas, Nevada (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 1:18 PM)

From Day 1 of this ridiculous war, I told my (adult)children that "This is another Vietnam--only this time, it's not for "freedom" but for ignorant, idiot, stupid Bush & Big Oil." I was sure hoping I'd be wrong but four years later.......well.........maybe if Chicken George the II had served in Vietnam he would have known better, but I doubt it. That dingbat needs to be impeached.

Jean, Covington, WA (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 1:27 PM)

Chris Matthews was part of the lap dog media that supported the President and the Republican Party in everything they said and did and now to say that it was predictable is laughable and a sad commentary on Chris Matthews. The media has become spineless during this administration and Chris is no better than the lap dogs on FOX. What happened to an objective and curious press, they all ate the Administration dog food.

Mike Tatom. Lone Tree, CO (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 1:28 PM)

Chris, You are 100% right. And since I have watched your show faithfully for the last 7 years, I KNOW for a fact that you have always vehemently opposed this war in Iraq. It was the biggest possible mistake to go in, and even worse the way it was mismanaged after the invasion.

Susan, Indianapolis, IN (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 1:31 PM)

Forgotten history: "People like to say on this fourth anniversary of the war that we never thought it would this bloody." What a bunch of baloney. On the openning day of D-day on a quarter mile stretch of beach, code named "Omaha" 3000 men lost their lives liberating France. Opening day totals are more than 20,000 for the enitre operation. We have occupied and controlled the country of Iraq for four years with just over 3200 lost. Though every life lost is to be mourned, this is the greatest military feat in history. So inept and ineffectual is the so called insurgency that they have fallen back on civilian terrorism to make this a political failure. This war was moral and just, now we are dealing with the mess of liberal media bias that has painted a bleak and pessimistic story for the masses, banking on the odds that the masses are as historically ignorant as they appear to be.

Bill Sims (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 1:31 PM)

All of the people who voted against Bush in 2000 predicted a mess and that is why they voted against him. Just what sort of mess may have been unknown at hat time but nevertheless they had some idea of what he was capable of. Personally I could not vote for him because of the hate between GW's father and Sadam. That is exactly what came into play with the war, It was never about WMD but rather, repaying a debt from the past.

BC Richmond VA (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 2:49 PM)

I have spent the last 4 years listening to all my conservative slowly give up on each argument, from WMD's and the connection to 9/11 to the overall war on terrorism. These friends assign us to easily the moral obligation, placed directly on young American, lives to save the world from itself. In reality, we can barely save ourselves. From the beginning I believed this war was rooted in something more political; more economic. It was always easy to see the logical facts, but harder to see the true motivation. I believe the "truth" is now the most precarious issue our government manages. We have no control over the truth. It has been reduced to whatever we are told. This administration has done the most complete job of nurturing a global and domestic enemy since the McCarthy era. One of two things is certain. Either our leadership is blindly ignorant of geopolitics, culture, and the nature of nationalism, or they have an agenda which has not been shared with the American people. Either way it is a frightening prospect.

Tony Vernon, Indianapolis, IN (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 2:50 PM)

We all knew what was about to occur. To many, it seemed to be the right thing to do until the body bags began to come home. We sent our youth off to war expecting them to come home, as we did in the War Between the States, everyone believed the soldiers would return home within 6 weeks unharmed and victorious, showing vacation videos and sporting imitation Rolex watches. Do you prefer to hide your heads in the sand and pretend that it didn’t happen as you did on February 26, 1993 when the World Trade Center was bombed under Clinton’s watch? A mere invitation to repeat their efforts unchallenged whenever and wherever they chose. They did so on Sept 11, 2001, and would’ve continued if allowed to. Bush is merely a figurehead; it took the Senate and House of Representatives (Republicans & Democrats alike) to get us into this war. If Bush truly is the idiot and poor leader he’s proclaimed to be, what can we say of all the members of Congress that follow him and still grant him unprecedented powers? Bush didn’t get into the Middle East by himself. What this has emphasized more than anything is that the world has learned much from Jane Fonda; the only way to defeat the United States is to divide and destroy from within. If united, the Hitlers, Husseins, and Bin Ladens will cease to exist.

Bruce Jones, Los Angeles (Sent Tuesday, March 20, 2007 2:50 PM)



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