Juan Cole

I argued that the Bush administration, and the Coalition officials more recently, didn't understand Iraqi society. They thought it was a blank slate, that they could use Iraqis as guinea pigs.

I also argued before the war that the administration was underestimating Arab nationalism and Iraqi nationalism, that it was not going to be as easy to rule Iraq as they thought.

If you put your politicians up for sale, as the US does (alone in this among industrialized democracies), then someone will buy them--and it won__ be you; you can__ afford them.