John Cole: “I was misled on Iraq.”

He would have done the same thing.

When it comes to the war in Iraq, I still think that I was right to support it, given the information I was using to base my decision. Others can disagree. In fact, I will go so far to say that were things to play out the same way again today, given the same information, the same state the country was in post 9/11, I would probably do the same exact thing.

On the other hand, if I knew then what I know now- that much of the information I was basing my decision to support the war was flawed, that this administration was wholly unprepared and wholly unserious about succeeding, there is no chance in hell I would have supported the war. I trusted people I shouldn’t have, supported people who don’t and didn’t deserve my support, and as such, we are in the mess we are in.

I don’t know John. I think we (allegedly informed and thoughtful conservative bloggers) should have done better. There were plenty of warning signs and contrary voices. I didn’t want to listen to them.

John looks the shoddy work on the new Baghdad Police Academy as a microcosm of the entire Iraq misadventure. Read the whole thing.

Trackbacks & Pings

  1. Hot Air » Blog Archive » Devastating: Woodward’s new book on Bush and Iraq on 29 Sep 2006 at 1:57 pm

    […] John Cole asks a good question. I’m not sure what my answer would be, frankly. […]

  2. Often the hardest thing to do is the right thing to do | Random Fate on 29 Sep 2006 at 2:20 pm

    […] The Commissar of the Poliburo Diktat 2.0 does the incredibly difficult but ultimately right thing in issuing a mea culpa: I think we (allegedly informed and thoughtful conservative bloggers) should have done better. There were plenty of warning signs and contrary voices. I didn’t want to listen to them. […]

  3. The Moderate Voice on 29 Sep 2006 at 2:22 pm

    Often the hardest thing to do is the right thing to do

    The Commissar of the Poliburo Diktat 2.0 does the incredibly difficult but ultimately right thing in issuing a

  4. Oliver Willis on 29 Sep 2006 at 2:35 pm

    Twilight Of The Truly Dumb

    Writing at The Moderate Voice, Jack Grant says that this so-called mea culpa from a con blogger is worthy of praise. Bull. The right has supported the Iraq war through thick and thin, ignoring all the bad news and consistently

  5. In Search Of Utopia on 02 Oct 2006 at 7:03 pm

    You know it is real tempting…

    To say I told you so. The current mia culpas coming from the right almost cry out for it. I could point out that all of us who criticized this war were called traitors, Bush Haters and worse. But not…

Comments

  1. Bill from INDC wrote:

    Sigh. Where will this Dimmesdale-like self-flagellation end? You committing proud seppuku in front of Roxanne and John Cole’s comment section?

    I don’t know John. I think we (allegedly informed and thoughtful conservative bloggers) should have done better. There were plenty of warning signs and contrary voices. I didn’t want to listen to them.

    You can agree with a large policy positions but not their execution. At some point, reasonable people - even hyper-informed people like bloggers, Presidents and generals - cannot know or control all that goes into such an effort, especially without primary information sources.

    Posted 29 Sep 2006 at 12:11 pm

  2. commissar wrote:

    Bill,

    Thanks for that. :)

    I was considering something more alone the line of an abject and remorseful email to DarkSyde and PZMyers, but am still trying to decide if the tone should be more “suicidal” or “recently converted zealot.”

    Posted 29 Sep 2006 at 1:01 pm

  3. Bill from INDC wrote:

    How about:

    “How may I repent, oh beneficient lord? Might I kill one of the wingnut heretics for you, master?“

    Posted 29 Sep 2006 at 1:08 pm

  4. pennywit wrote:

    Commissar:

    Not to put too fine a point on it, but the center left was onto this quite some time ago. For members of the center right to come around to this view now — three years later — smacks of “too little, too late.”

    I don’t know what is most frustrating about the march to war. On the one hand, the left was so shrill and so unrealistic as to be noncredible. The center left was so calm, reasonable, and accommodating as to be impotent.

    And worst of all, the center right — memebrs of this country’s governing party, individuals who actually had the ears of those in power — failed to interrupt the drums of war.

    I’m glad you and others are having an epiphany … would that you had had it two and a half years earlier.

    –|PW|–

    Posted 29 Sep 2006 at 3:11 pm

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