kevao: All of which contributed, IMO, to our losing the Congress in 2006 and the WH in 2008.
Yep to both of you. And that loss of the WH might turn out to be permanent. It is one thing to argue over whether Bush II should have invaded Iraq: Did Saddam really have significant WMD's targeted against the West, or was he just posturing to scare his mortal enemy, Iran?
But beyond that, Bush needed to win the war QUICKLY and CLEANLY. He did neither. Everything about the occupation was bungled, including the disastrous appointment of that idiot Paul Bremer.
The war was won cleanly....it was the aftermath that was the cluster-you-know-what.