Of course, mistakes have been made in any war but that doesn't excuse the dire mess in Iraq. Defenders of the war have to make a stronger case than this "all wars have mistakes" cop-out! Saying "mistakes were made" reminds me of those who excuse made by those who try to ratioanlize the failures of the war on poverty.
My personal take is the mistakes made were not killing or arresting people like Sadr long ago.
Going into Iraq far too late after telegraphing our punch for months. Worrying too much about what the Iraqis, French and UN will think of us if we blow a mosque filled with terrorists to bits. Not being strong enough against Iran and Syria helping the terrorists and various islamic wackos.
The mixed results of modern warfares attempts at civilizing warfare is something I do not quite entirely grasp.
I agree with why we are there, I agree that success is possible and indeed likely in time.
I just think if more people running the war asked "What would Patton do?", we would be much farther along toward our goals in the region.