John Cole's Mea Culpa

My wife is pretty good at admitting when she is wrong. She is not wrong often, so I especially relish it when it happens.

However, she has nothing on cartoonist John Cole. He listed everything he got wrong about the Iraq war. It is a list that is not very different from what most people believed at the time:

I was wrong about the Doctrine of Pre-emptive warfare.
I was wrong about Iraq possessing WMD.
I was wrong about Scott Ritter and the inspections.
I was wrong about the UN involvement in weapons inspections.
I was wrong about the containment sanctions.
I was wrong about the broader impact of the war on the Middle East.
I was wrong about this making us more safe.
I was wrong about the number of troops needed to stabilize Iraq.
I was wrong when I stated this administration had a clear plan for the aftermath.
I was wrong about securing the ammunition dumps.
I was wrong about the ease of bringing democracy to the Middle East.
I was wrong about dissolving the Iraqi army.
I was wrong about the looting being unimportant.
I was wrong that Bush/Cheney were competent.
I was wrong that we would be greeted as liberators.
I was wrong to make fun of the anti-war protestors.
I was wrong not to trust the dirty smelly hippies

I can be pretty stubborn once I take a stand, so had I supported the war, I have to admit that I would have been tempted to continue justifying it, like so many others are doing. It is hard to come to terms with support for a policy that has wreaked such havoc. So, it took a lot of guts for John Cole to stand up and say this, and I appreciate his sentiments. I just wish there were good choices left for an exit strategy, rather than choices ranging from terrible to awful.