"Our grand initiative there [was] to bring democracy to Iraq," says Rajiv Chandrasekaran, former Baghdad bureau chief for The Washington Post. Instead, says Chandrasekaran, "we were leaving with our tail between our legs."


Timeline

   

Wow, it seems distant already, but I remember that first 5 months, when there were no IEDs, no car bombs or suicide bombs, basically very little resistance at all.

Too bad they blew the opportunity.

   

Do nothing to prevent looting or secure boarders then the policy of de-baathification coupled with disbanding the Iraqi army, add Abu Ghraib and then don't secure any of the bunkers holding literally hundreds of tonnes for high grade explosives and you get the mess we are in.