They knew it!

They knew it was in the coming. The strife in Iraq. The killings. The reprisal attacks. The civil war. The ghastly face of terrorism. As Bush warms upto India -- its newest friend in a unilateral world -- reports that U.S. intelligence agencies repeatedly warned the White House, starting in 2003, 'that the insurgency in Iraq had deep local roots, was likely to worsen and could lead to civil war'.

Sponging: But the term 'civil war', chillingly familiar from Lebanon in the 1970s or Algeria in the 1990s, is too neat: Iraq is embroiled in a war of all against all, supercharged mayhem in which Shia militias fight each other; the Kurds have a fully-fledged army; al-Qaida and foreign fighters work with Ba'athists and armed criminals run rackets. The road ahead leads to warlordism and anarchy, as The Guardian puts it.

Wayne White, a veteran State Department intelligence analyst, wrote recently that when it became clear that the 2003 report would forecast grim prospects for tamping down the insurgency, a senior official exclaimed rhetorically, 'How can I take this upstairs -- to CIA Director George Tenet?'

Was the caveat deliberately ignored? Was it another blip?

There were lives at stake. Poor Iraqi's at each other's thoats now and ofcourse the US military who find themsleves deeply sucked in the Iraq ruckus. How could such a significant report be overlooked?

Meanwhile, Bush rejoices in India. Dick perfects his bad shots. Rummy is busy addressing anti-commie speeches in true Truman-era style. No one seems to notice the small news-report that -- had it been acted upon -- might have saved the world a little more innocent blood.

sameer bhat