I wonder if this kind of intel failure can, in fact, be avoided. It seems to me Iraq under Saddam was (hopefully) a rare and unusual case. From Hussein on down, the regime seemed largely incompetant and staggeringly, willingly delusional.

Without a giant pair of international X-Ray specs, how are we supposed to see inside a regime as paranoid and closed and hostile as Baathist Iraq? Hussein insisted he had no WMD, but wouldn't allow the inspections to prove it. Was it a matter of macho pride? Was it a case of stunted emotional growth? The stupid old jerk played a horribly dangerous game, and lost. The only way he could have further assured an invasion would have been by distributing printed invitations.