Thomas Friedman writes about “The Suicide Supply Chain“:

The right way to improve U.S. intelligence is to get more people on the ground who speak the languages we need and who can think unconventionally. If that sounds blindingly obvious to you, it is, but it is precisely the shortage of such people that explains to me America’s greatest intelligence failure in Iraq – a failure we are paying for dearly right now. You see, we didn’t invade Iraq too soon. We actually invaded 10 years too late.

I’ve argued the same thing, of course, but my interest was purely humanitarian. Because of our previous support of Saddam, and the fact that we left him in power 13 years ago, we are morally responsible for at least some of the pain he inflicted on the Iraqi citizens. Friedman, on the other hand, argues that leaving Saddam in Iraq made things dangerous not because of the weapons that his administration were developing, but because of uncivilization his rule was breeding.

It’s an interesting column. Go read it.

(Via VodkaPundit)