The Middle East

In Bob Woodward's latest book, "Plan of Attack," Secretary of State Colin Powell confirms what critics of the war in Iraq have known all along. The Bush administration – against the strong desires of most of the world community – sent the United States to war under false pretenses, based on distorted intelligence, and with no hard plan for dealing with the aftermath. Powell understood best what other Bush administration officials chose to ignore: the United States would not be greeted as liberators in Iraq and it would not be a cost free war. The Bush administration trumped up intelligence about weapons of mass destruction to win public support for an ideological war in Iraq. Secretary Powell received the unfortunate charge of presenting the Bush administration's bogus intelligence assessment to the U.N. Security Council just prior to the U.S. invasion last year. Unfortunately for Powell and the nation, we now have independent confirmations that Iraq did not possess weapons of mass destruction and was not in collusion with al Qaeda prior to our invasion. The war in Iraq diverted critical resources from the fight against al Qaeda. Woodward's book reveals that President Bush ordered Secretary of Defense Rumseld to secretly draw up plans to invade Iraq less than two months after the terrorist attacks on 9/11. Rather than finishing off al Qaeda and bin Laden, President Bush changed focus to a fight a less immediate threat in Iraq. And in his rush to war he informed Prince Bandar, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, before telling his own Secretary of State. The administration failed to plan for the aftermath of war and has created a terrorist front in Iraq where none existed before. Secretary Powell correctly assessed the risks in Iraq. Less than three months before transferring sovereignty to Iraqis, the Bush administration still has no concrete political plan for the nation and is quickly losing control of security on the ground. Rather than decreasing threats of terror in Iraq, President Bush's unwise war has now created a central front for terrorists determined to kill Americans. Daily Talking Points is a product of the Center for American Progress, a non-partisan research and educational institute committed to progressive principles for a strong, just and free America.