David Frum

He has no permission from the public.

There is real economic pain and it will get worse.

And he has not told Americans it's coming.

He has no permission from it.

And his numbers will crater.

And as first fuel and then food prices rise for a war that Americans do not understand, we're never consulted about, we're never informed of in advance, his political position, weak already, is going to crumble more.

So I would say military progress, political trouble now and worse trouble ahead.

As an observer of the run-up to the Iraq War, what were the most important mistakes made in 2003?

And among them were never serious enough thought to, what if we don't get the best case or even the mid-case scenario?

What if we get the worst case scenario?

What does that look like and what happens then?

And the second was, how do we plan for after the shooting stops or after formal military operations stop, what happens then?

How do we get to a political resolution in Iraq?

And both of those were very poorly planned.

And there was a real failure, a refusal to think about worst case scenarios.

And there was a joke that circulated at the time.

How many Bush officials does it take to change a light bulb?

And the answer is, what are you talking about?

That light bulb is perfectly fine.

What would anybody need to change it?