ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a comprehensive explanation of why the US invasion of Iraq was a strategic mistake and accounts for the many tactical errors that were subsequently made in its implementation. The neoconservative push to invade Iraq was driven by a number of policy objectives. First, neocons desired to export secular democracy and free market capitalism to Iraq and the wider Middle East. The neoconservative vision failed to take account of Iraqi culture and society and underestimated the influence of Iran. The post-9/11 terrorist attack on American forces in Iraq revealed that al-Qa'ida is a multinational network of dedicated radical militants from all over the Muslim world, committed to an anti-Western, especially anti-American, campaign. The Shi'a clerical power, including open clashes with the al-Mahdi army in Kufa, Karbala, Najaf, al-Kut, and Sadr City, was considered to be a direct challenge to US plans in Iraq.
