Iraq: 'The Gate of God Opens Wider' by Felicity Arbuthnot

The tragic folly of Iraq though, is a litany of ignorance of a 'far away place..' of which Washington knows nothing. Returning to London from Baghdad, days before the invasion, newspapers were awash with Ahmed Chalabi's assurances that the crusaders would be greeted with flowers and sweets. The certainties from a man who should be serving a lengthy jail term in Jordan for embezzlement, would be taken by inhabitants of planet earth with a hefty pinch of salt. Not apparently in Washington or Whitehall.