If Saddam had been left alone, the moukhabarat would still be arbitrarily arresting so-called dissidents and torturing them to insanity in silence. But there would be order of some sort, and an uneasy peace with some poverty for the masses. A classic "balance of power" equilibrium remians in place, with an Iraq too defanged to threaten any neighbour. But Saddam remains enthroned in blood.

With Saddam gone, there is rampaging violence, slowly growing beyond the US's capacity to contain and threatening to pull every country around Iraq - including Israel, Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia - down into the conflict.

Was this chaos beyond the anticipation of the planners in the Pentagon or some think tank? If a report pre-dating the war in Iraq were to be revealed, showing an accurate prediction of the degenerating situation today, that would be yet more cause for condemnation of the Bush Administration's policies, if nothing to date is sufficient.

But that still would not solve the Iraq problem we have now, would it? So, the issue is no longer whether the war was right or wrong. The real problem is how to get out while not leaving Mesopotamia to fester.

BTW SAF is still committing forces to the coalition of the willing? The Angkatan Tentera Malaysia is still safely out, by virtue of our policy.

Eh, joke lah!

I think Singapore is still in there with our police officers. I'm not sure.