The Seven Deadly Sins of Failure in Iraq: A Retrospective Analysis of the Reconstruction

The Middle East Review of International Affairs, December 2006

Kenneth M. Pollack, Director of Research, Saban Center for Middle East Policy

"It never had to be this bad. The reconstruction of Iraq was never going to be quick or easy, but it was not doomed to failure.[1] Its disastrous course to date has been almost entirely the result of a sequence of foolish and unnecessary mistakes on the part of the United States."

1. Ignorance
2. Arrogance
3. Neglect
4. Stubborness
5. Panic
6. Haste
7. Denial