Absolutely not crap. The military/government knew full well the possible effect of removing Saddam Hussein's regime.


This knowledge was demonstrated by a memorable pre-war quote from Colin Powell:

“And then Powell says to him, somewhat in a chilly way, ‘Are you aware of the consequences?’ Because he'd been pounding for months on the president, on everyone - and Powell directly says, ‘You know, you're gonna be owning this place.’

This was taken from Woodward's book, I actually remember the quote a little differently as Powell saying to the president "You will own Iraq" during an advisory discussion but can't find the source.

Well, we do own it now and the tenants are a little irritating to deal with.