MORE WARNINGS ABOUT IRAQ BEFORE THE INVASION

(Via Thomas Ricks, pp. 72-3)

I noted below that there were plenty of warnings FROM SERIOUS PEOPLE that Iraq would be much more difficult than the neo-cons and the war whores believed. Here's a little more evidence.

Iraq: Thinking through the aftermath
By David Isenberg
Jan 21, 2003
Asia Times

...the US National Defense University's Institute for National Strategic Studies, in collaboration with the Naval Postgraduate School, held a workshop titled "Iraq: Looking Beyond Saddam's Role" on November 20-21. The workshop, the existence of which was first reported by the defense trade newsletter Inside the Army on January 6, brought together more than 70 functional and regional scholars and experts to discuss post-intervention challenges.

"Given the potential for internal disorder and conflict, the primary post-intervention focus of US military operations must be on establishing and maintaining a secure environment in which all other post-intervention activities can operate."

Economic considerations also weigh against a quick reduction of Iraqi military forces. As a Department of Defense (DoD) official said to Asia Times Online, "If you demobilize the regular military, you put 400,000 people out of work."

The DoD official said that it "will take years to get Iraqi oil up to pre-Desert Storm levels. The fields are in such disrepair that the fields are constantly shut down and restarted in round robin fashion."