THAT WAS THEN

"Once you've got Baghdad, it's not clear what you do with it. It's not clear what kind of government you put in place. How much credibility is that government going to have if it's set up by the U.S. military?" --Dick Cheney, 1991

MIND-SET

"F*** Saddam. We're taking him out." --George W. Bush, to three U.S. senators, March 2002

WMD

"If the president wants to go to war, our job is to find the intelligence to allow him to do so." --Alan Foley, director, CIA Weapons Intelligence, to staff, December 2002

THE PLAN

"There was no guidance for restoring order in Baghdad, creating an interim government, hiring government and essential services employees, and ensuring that the judicial system was operational." --3rd Infantry Division's official after-action review

INSURGENCY

"I really qualify it as militarily insignificant. They are very small. They are very random. They are very ineffective." --Maj. Gen. Ray Odierno, June 18, 2003

REALITY

"Does [the Iraq war strategy] make America safer?" --Sen. John Warner

"I don't know, actually." --Gen. David Petraeus, in Senate testimony, September 11, 2007