I think that will be the first mistake that will be recorded in history, the belief that containment as a policy doesn't work. The second mistake I think history will record is that the strategy was flawed. The third mistake, I think was one we repeated from Vietnam, we had to create a false rationale for going in to get public support. We failed in number four, to internationalize the effort. I think the fifth mistake was that we underestimated the task. The sixth mistake, and maybe the biggest one, was propping up and trusting the exiles, the infamous "Gucci Guerillas" from London. The seventh problem has been the lack of planning. The eighth problem was the insufficiency of military forces on the ground. The ninth problem has been the ad hoc organization we threw in there. And that ad hoc organization has failed, leading to the tenth mistake, and that's a series of bad decisions on the ground.
May 18, 2004 5:12 AM
