Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

Alexander Pope

You know what’s funny? Our invasion of Iraq would have worked better in 1990, when the Bush who was then President, and the Cheney who was then Secretary of Defense, were afraid to do it.

• When all of Saddam’s military might was being used to hold on to Kuwait, instead of being cached away for former henchmen and Sunni extremists to use for insurgency.
• Before Osama bin-Laden became a powerful military commander, and al-Qaeda practically the world’s third superpower.
• Before al-Jazeera was the Fox News Channel of the Middle East.
• When our NATO allies, the U.N., and the rest of the world still liked us.
• Before the Palestinian intifada, and Israel’s “security fence,” had completely eroded any support for western interests in the region.
• Before Iraq’s infrastructure had deteriorated so badly under sanctions that it became a herculean task to rebuild and defend it.

On another note, Donald Rumsfeld’s comments the past few weeks, and the revelation that he hasn’t even personally signed condolence letters for the more than 1000 American troops who have died in Iraq, shows his utter contempt for the men and women whose lives he is wasting through his lack of planning and preparation. And President Bush’s continued support of him only underscores his own disregard for our soldiers’ lives. My friend Justin is already on his second tour of duty in Iraq, while his brother Chad is there as well, and I fear for them every day. When his own father and his own Vice President didn’t like the prospect 14 years ago, why in the world did “W” think the road would be so easy now?