The Fantasies They Believed

You know, if I were the Bushies I'd be figuring out how to get Chalabi's head on a pike. It's pretty cleary they bought his fantasies wholesale, and that's largely the reason why they screwed the pooch.

Representatives of the Iraqi National Congress, however, claimed to control a vast underground network that would rise in support of coalition forces to assist security and law enforcement. They insisted that the entire Iraqi Army be immediately disbanded. The Pentagon agreed, in the end leading many Iraqi soldiers who might otherwise have been willing to work with the coalition to take up arms against it. Mr. Chalabi's promised network didn't materialize, and the resulting power vacuum contributed to looting, sabotage and attacks against American forces.