CLARIFICATION: A previous version of this letter contained a title that misrepresented its argument. The letter has been updated to reflect this change.
TO THE EDITOR:
After the horrors in Paris, concern about the Islamic State group grows, and it is important to see it in historical perspective. Those of us who opposed the Iraq War way back in 2003 made two predictions, and we were right about both.
First, we said there were no weapons of mass destruction. There was no “intelligence error” about this; they just lied to us. Our fears — in the wake of 9/11 — were manipulated to legitimize invading Iraq.
We knew this at the time, if only because of the Downing Street memos, which stated that the “intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy” of starting the war.
Besides, if President George W. Bush really believed Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, we would never have invaded because Iraq would have used them.
We also knew that.
Second, we said that, although Saddam was an evil man, ousting him would lead to something even worse.
We were right about that, too.
