Hate to Say 'I Told You So"

The Economist reports:

"Over seven years after the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, America's direct military involvement is now coming to an end. President Barack Obama will set out his new policy in a speech from the Oval Office on Monday August 31st. American public opinion on the war has changed enormously during that time. When George Bush prematurely declared an end to major combat operations in May 2003 most Americans were behind the war, with only a quarter saying it was a mistake according to Gallup polling data. But the public's mood turned when allegations of torture by US soldiers came to light in early 2004. The bloody terror campaign by Sunni militia groups, which began in earnest in 2006 and killed Iraqis by the thousands and American troops by the hundreds, also had a profound effect on opinion."

And, I might add, not finding WMD, the major premise for the invasion, was a bit of a problem for public opinion.

See that lower left-hand corner of the chart, where some 20 percent or so of the population thought invading Iraq was a mistake? That was me. And a small minority of others who were mercilessly ridiculed as anti-American or dangerously naive about Saddam's intentions. Particularly in this case, after more than four thousand American deaths, countless thousands of Iraqis dead, it gives me no pleasure to say "I told you so."

US public opinion on Iraq: Big mistake | The Economist