Of course everything about the Iraq war served to further
weaken the American position against terrorism. The invasion, with its chaotic
and almost completely unplanned occupation, left an anarchic void that has given
rise to a newer and even more virulent Sunni terrorist movement in Iraq’s north,
the threat of which has rippled out. The invasion, and revelations of American
torture, helped radicalize Muslims against the United States while alienating
potential allies.

In retrospect, Bush’s ability to portray himself to America as a committed
and triumphant vanquisher of terrorism rested almost entirely on emotional
manipulation. Bush standing on the rubble at Ground Zero; Bush throwing a strike
at Yankee Stadium before a cheering crowd; Bush landing on an aircraft carrier —
it was all brilliant political theater. And it supported a conclusion 180
degrees from reality. Of the manifold failures the Bush administration wrought,
its handling of the terrorist threat should rank as the worst.