I assume you were conscious of the irony when you chose those words. It strikes me as breathtaking hubris to pin Peace In Our Time on the invasion of Iraq.

I did give intimidation of other Middle Eastern countries as one of the reasons for the invasion; but I think advocates of the policy are overestimating the effect we're having. Nobody doubted we could conquer Iraq; the world's watching to see if we're capable of winning the peace. The concept that a westernized and democratized Iraq will change the course of history is a non-starter if we don't succeed at it, and the jury's still out.

Todd made an excellent point that I endorse: Saudi Arabia is the defensible choice if Bush were really focused on the war on terror, because Saudi Arabia has the most direct connection to Al Qaeda after Afghanistan. We punched out Iraq when we should have gone after Saudi Arabia (not necessarily with war, but with an honest investigation of its ties to terror and a meaningful ultimatum to clean up its act...before war).