This is one of the most reasonable articles I have seen from a person who thinks we did the wrong thing going into Iraq. While it goes on at some length about how the administration "cooks" the intelligence, it also takes a realistic look at how intelligence agencies around the world could have come to the conclusion that Saddam was hiding something deadly. Like many such reasonable people, he thought a bit differently before the war. There are also some interesting reform suggestions for the CIA worth discussing.

An exerpt:

The war was not all bad. I do not believe that it was a strategic mistake, although the appalling handling of postwar planning was. There is no question that Saddam Hussein was a force for real instability in the Persian Gulf, and that his removal from power was a tremendous improvement. There is also no question that he was pure evil, and that he headed one of the most despicable regimes of the past fifty years. I am grateful that the United States no longer has to contend with the malign influence of Saddam's Iraq in this economically irreplaceable and increasingly fragile part of the world; nor can I begrudge the Iraqi people one day of their freedom.

What's more, we should not forget that containment was failing. The shameful performance of the United Nations Security Council members (particularly France and Germany) in 2002-2003 was final proof that containment would not have lasted much longer; Saddam would eventually have reconstituted his WMD programs, although further in the future than we had thought. That said, the case for war—and for war sooner rather than later—was certainly less compelling than it appeared at the time. At the very least we should recognize that the Administration's rush to war was reckless even on the basis of what we thought we knew in March of 2003. It appears even more reckless in light of what we know today.

I am attempting to locate a mailing address for him, to ask him this question:

Given that you believe that it was too soon to go to war, and that you also believe Saddam would eventually have reconstituted his WMD programs, what would you consider sufficient cause for going to war eventually? Proven possession of a nuclear weapon? Obviously that's too late. What would be the red flag that would finally call for the ouster of Saddam Hussein?

And how would the war need to be fought under those conditions?