I agree with you except the opposite.
I think has done and continues to do the right thing in Iraq— earning him a well deserved place in history.
The overwhelming force argument was as likely to dramatically increase casualties and resistance there and at home.
The US success there continues to grow both geograpically and politically. I am sorry to read that you believe the NYT view of Iraq.
I don't believe the NYT view of Iraq...but I do believe that Bush has committed serious mistakes in dealing with the war there and that it may be too late to correct the damage done. I cannot fathom that in the face of the experience of Islamofacism prior to Iraq (i.e. the intifada, Lebanon, Somalia, 9/11, etc.) the administration did not consider suicide, IEDs, and a civil Sunni/Shitte conflict. Why Bush let Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Perle, Bremmer and, yes, Cheney talk him into limited warfare is beyond comprehension and, to this day, I really believe that some of those characters should have been chastised to the fullest extent of public humiliation perhaps even including jail time for gross misconduct.