Since the Statue Fell

As noted over at RedState, this is the fourth anniversary of the day that we took Baghdad. I remember thinking four years ago, "thank god I was wrong, now we can get out before anything terrible happens." That day was what inspired Bush to make his "Mission Accomplished" pronouncement, and as far as I was concerned he was right.

Then came the Coalition Provisional Authority and saran-wrapped bricks of cash and 3,000 more deaths. Dethroning Saddam, and subsequently capturing him, are really the only positive things I can see about this war anymore, and they have come at a grievous price.

For a better idea just how badly we've bungled the four years since the statue fell, read this article about a forthcoming book by a former Iraq government official. A few key quotes:

"The corroded and corrupt state of Saddam was replaced by the corroded, inefficient, incompetent and corrupt state of the new order"

and

"What followed was the "rank amateurism and swaggering arrogance" of the occupation"

and, perhaps most importantly,

"It might have been otherwise."