12/15/2003

“Containment of Iraq [through the Clinton-era policy of enforcing no-fly zones and economic sanctions] had worked, while the Bush administration’s approach hadn’t, argued a study written by Jeffrey Record and published by the War College’s Strategic Studies Institute [in December 2003]. He argued that a war of choice had been launched that had distracted the U.S. military and government from a war of necessity in Afghanistan and elsewhere that already was under way. ‘Of particular concern had been the conflation of al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein’s Iraq as a single, undifferentiated terrorist threat,’ Record wrote.” [The 15th of the month used for date sorting purposes only.]

 – Thomas E. Ricks, Fiasco, Pages 308-309