As George W. Bush gets ready to go on his "Summer of Fear" tour to defend his Iraq policy, one of Colin Powell's closest advisers during the run-up to that war has written a book that takes apart the administration's case for invading Iraq.
His name is Richard Haass. The same Richard Haass who in 1997 wrote The Reluctant Sheriff, a criticism of President Clinton's reluctance to use military force. The same Richard Haass who coined the term "coalition of the willing."
His pro-neocon thinking earned him a stint in the State Department as Director of Policy Planning, where he learned that Bush wasn't "resolute," he was reckless. He left the administration, and is now the head of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Haass decided not to release his book, entitled "The Opportunity," until after the election so as not to be accused by the GOP of sour grapes.
"The Opportunity" was reviewed in this weekend's edition of the Financial Times. Reviewer Quentin Peel, a regular columnist for the paper, sums up Haass's case against Mr. Bush's war:
One-by-one, he demolishes the core arguments for going to war. Lack of positive intelligence about chemical and biological weapons meant the case was never convincing; the human rights situation in Iraq in 2002 "did not warrant armed intervention"; sanctions could have been made even more effective by stopping Iraq's illegal oil trading with its neighbours.
Above all, the direct costs to the US have hugely outweighed the benefits. The war against Iraq has absorbed so much money, military manpower and attention of the administration that the US is unable to focus on more immediate and serious threats - such as the nuclear challenges posed by Iran and North Korea.
That critique could fit on the back of a 3x5 index card. And it should be thrown back in the president's face every time he tries to defend his war.