I think the president took a gamble that Iraq would be conquered and under control fairly quickly. A gamble that may have been worth taking, and may even have been visionary, but one that he lost.
Losing the gamble changes everything, which is why we're hearing this now.
I agree. Tenet told him that Saddam was close to going nuclear, so he invaded. When a thorough search disproved the intelligence, he switched to democratizing Iraq. This has improved impossible because there is no Iraqi nation-state. Now his creativity and room for political manuever is at an end. His successors will have to clean up his mess.