How Could So Many People Buy into Bushs “Patriotism Sweepstakes” War?
The Iraq War — now ending its fifth bloody year — represents not only a human tragedy of enormous consequence and possibly the greatest strategic blunder in U.S. history but also a systemic failure of American political and journalistic institutions. Instead of checking George W. Bush’s imperial impulse for the good of the Republic, the Congress — including Sen. Hillary Clinton and other prominent Democrats — and the national press corps tended to their careers and their political viability.In recognition of this tragedy, we are publishing the following excerpt from Neck Deep: The Disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush.Iraq’s “Day of Liberation” — as George W. Bush called it — was supposed to begin with a bombardment consisting of 3,000 U.S. missiles delivered over 48 hours, 10 times the number of bombs dropped during the first two days of the Persian Gulf War in 1991.Officials, who were briefed on the plans, said the goal was to so stun the Iraqis that they would simply submit
