Duration of the War

A lot of Bush bashers will make a lot of noise about Rumsfeld's recent assertion that no one should try to predict when Iraq will end, bringing up pre-war quotes saying the war would last weeks. This is something that's bothered me for a while. The war ended over two years ago when organized Iraqi military resistance ended. Rumsfeld and company were right that the war would not last 6 months. It is the post-war occupation of Iraq that has lasted years, not the war. What this does demonstrate yet again is that the administration only thought about the war. No thought was given to what would happen afterward. Along with the promise of a quick war was the expectation that the troops would be coming home shortly after it ended. These guys didn't have the insight to realize they might have to work after the war's end. Be that as it may, it is incorrect to criticize Rumsfeld's prediction that the war would last weeks, not months.