Our objective was hardly merely to occupy Baghdad and remove Saddam Hussein. If that were our only objective, then we should've withdrawn our forces in April 2003 once it was achieved.
The only "surprise" in the entire Iraqi affair was that they didn't roll over and play dead. Period. That's it. That they were willing to pick up guns and shoot back at us, oftentimes on their own individual initiative. That was the only "surprise".
None of this is anything new that I'm saying. I was saying this over and over back in 2003. I just don't discuss this much anymore because what's the point? The difference back then was that there was still time to correct the course; now things are more or less on the track that they're on, and there's not much left to do to alter the outcome.
So, I guess we can just all sit back and enjoy the ride! When the next war comes along, then we will probably do what America has always done: We will start it by refighting the last war, until we realize yet again that each war is unique.
Well, we can always count on the New York Times to win our wars.