Who Said It?

February 17, 2003, a month before the invasion of Iraq:

To this day, the President has not made a case that war against Iraq, now, is necessary to defend American territory, our citizens, our allies, or our essential interests...

We have been told over and over again what the risks will be if we do not go to war.

We have been told little about what the risks will be if we do go to war.

If we go to war, I certainly hope the Administration's assumptions are realized, and the conflict is swift, successful and clean. I certainly hope our armed forces will be welcomed like heroes and liberators in the streets of Baghdad.

I certainly hope Iraq emerges from the war stable, united and democratic.

I certainly hope terrorists around the world conclude it is a mistake to defy America and cease, thereafter, to be terrorists.

It is possible, however, that events could go differently, . . . .

Iraq is a divided country, with Sunni, Shia and Kurdish factions that share both bitter rivalries and access to large quantities of arms.

Anti-American feelings will surely be inflamed among the misguided who choose to see an assault on Iraq as an attack on Islam, or as a means of controlling Iraqi oil.

And last week's tape by Osama bin Laden tells us that our enemies will seek relentlessly to transform a war into a tool for inspiring and recruiting more terrorists.

There are other risks. Iraq is a divided country, with Sunni, Shia and Kurdish factions that share both bitter rivalries and access to large quantities of arms.

Iran and Turkey each have interests in Iraq they will be tempted to protect with or without our approval.

I don't expect anyone in the media, and certainly not in the Republican Party, to apologize to Howard Dean for slandering him when his most dire predictions turned out to be pretty much entirely correct. Unlike the Democrats in the Beltway who are so terrified of running on national security (although this poll suggests they have nothing to fear). I'm sure Dean doesn't expect an apology either; but an acknowledgement would sure be nice.

P.S. This post by Glenn Greenwald is important. Dean was slandered two months ago for saying what William F. Buckley, Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly have all said this week (and this doesn't happen out of the ether; some preparations are being made, some groundwork is being laid). You can't call anyone who disagrees with an endless war in Iraq a coward anymore. To do so ignores reality.

Go see some examples of the pretzel logic Bush supporters are trying to twist themselves into over these developments.