Reply #5: the bottom line is that

[stellanoir]

the * administration pushed this to Congress before the '02 midterms. In the shadow of 9/11 they would have been perceived as being unpatriotic had they not approved that measure. They foolishly believed that * would wait for UN approval if the authorized this measure. He did not. He based his unlawful assault on Iraq on his father's timeline in reference to a quick in and out based on his father's model and his own reselction cycle with no pre-planning whatsoever. The troops we sent in there didn't eve know how to say "hello" in Arabic. Flowers & chocolate indeed.

Clark has described it repeatedly as a "bait and switch" maneuver. I think that's really apt and says it all.