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No. 610

February 13, 2008

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Learning the Right Lessons from Iraq

by Benjamin H. Friedman, Harvey M. Sapolsky,

and Christopher Preble

Executive Summary

The popular contention that the Bush ad-

Foreign policy experts and policy analysts are

ministration's failures and errors in judgment

misreading the lessons of Iraq. The emerging

can be attributed to poor planning is also false.

conventional wisdom holds that success could

There was ample planning for the war, but it con-

have been achieved in Iraq with more troops,

flicted with the Bush administration's expecta-

more cooperation among U.S. government agen-

tions. To the extent that planning failed, there-

cies, and better counterinsurgency doctrine. To

fore, the lesson to draw is not that the United

analysts who share these views, Iraq is not an

States national security establishment needs bet-

example of what not to do but of how not to do

ter planning, but that it needs better leaders.

it. Their policy proposals aim to reform the

That problem is solved by elections, not bureau-

national security bureaucracy so that we will get

cratic tinkering.

it right the next time.

The military gives us the power to conquer

The near-consensus view is wrong and danger-

foreign countries, but not the power to run

ous. What Iraq demonstrates is a need for a new

them. Because there are few good reasons to take

national security strategy, not better tactics and

on missions meant to resuscitate failed govern-

tools to serve the current one. By insisting that

ments, terrorism notwithstanding, the most

Iraq was ours to remake were it not for the Bush

important lesson from the war in Iraq should be

administration's mismanagement, we ignore the

a newfound appreciation for the limits of our

limits on our power that the war exposes and in

power.

the process risk repeating our mistake.

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Benjamin H. Friedman is a research fellow at the Cato Institute and a Ph.D. candidate in the Security Studies

Program at MIT; Harvey M. Sapolsky is a professor of public policy and organization at MIT; and Christopher

Preble is director of foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute.