Before the die was cast we were treated to a recitation of the Neo-Con liturgy of reasons why their war with Iraq was necessary. First and foremost they said it was essential to disarm Saddam of his arsenal of Weapons of Mass Destruction. WMD in Neo-speak refers to chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. We seem to have done that because we haven’t found any WMDs in the almost six months since we invaded Iraq. It has been an embarrassment to the Administration that they have tried to meet by assuring the public that they are hunting diligently and that the weapons will be found. Those assurances seem to be candidates for listing in the catalogue of inoperative statements as well.

Administration sources are leaking that the WMD intelligence that sent us to visit death and destruction on Iraq was faulty because western intelligence agencies fell for one of the oldest tricks in the spooks’ book – phony defectors sent by Saddam Hussein to convince us that the fearsome arsenal existed. In short the now operative line is that Saddam tricked us into invading Iraq and killing his sons. Is there no end to that evil man’s perfidy? It does beg the question of just how gullible western intelligence has become. But then this is the same bunch that mistook hydrogen generators for mobile weapons labs; Balsawood RC aircraft for a delivery system and rocket bodies for uranium centrifuge parts. Any organization that would trumpet the contents of forged documents to the world without even looking at the evidence could well be taken in by an Iraqi con.

General Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, told the Veterans of Foreign Wars last week, "This enemy is not like any enemy we've fought before; they are still very shrewd, and they are still evil." For the first time the Pentagon is admitting that they are embroiled in a guerilla war and one that they did not anticipate. While it may be unlike any enemy that the U.S. has fought recently, it has fought a like enemy before – a century ago when it fought a decade long war with an organized Moslem resistance in the Philippines. The enemy is much like that fought by the Soviet Red Army in Afghanistan and that fought by the Third Reich in the alleys of Paris and across the fields of France. The lessons of those conflicts have either been unlearned or willfully ignored. The Pentagon again blames “bad intelligence” for its faulty planning but apparently intends to continue to follow the plan they have proved is not working. We seem to be fighting a war based on faith – faith that a failed plan will succeed if only it is executed often enough.

One of General Myers predecessors said that the US Armed Forces should only be employed where there was a clear objective and a defined exit strategy. It was good advice then and it is good doctrine now.