Intentions and Opposite Results in Iraq - by MICHIKO KAKUTANI

In his compelling new book the scholar and former diplomat Peter W. Galbraith not only reminds us that the Iraq war has been a costly, bungled operation, but he also argues that the war has had the opposite effect of virtually everything that President Bush and his administration promised the American public it would have:

¶A war intended to eliminate (what were later found to be non-existent) weapons of mass destruction in Iraq “ended up with Iran and North Korea much closer to having deployable nuclear weapons.”

¶A war intended to help combat terrorism has led to the recruitment of more terrorists and the spread of Al Qaeda to Iraq.

¶A war intended to create a bulwark against the ayatollahs in Tehran turned into a “strategic gift to Iran” and the empowerment in Iraq of pro-Iranian Shiite theocrats.

¶A war intended to make Israel more secure has made that country more vulnerable to threats from Syria, Iran and Hezbollah.

¶A war intended to showcase American power has ended up underscoring “the deficiencies of U.S. intelligence, the incompetence of American administration and the limitations on the American military.”