] The United States' invasion of Iraq was not a great idea.
] Its only virtue was that it was the best available idea
] among a series of even worse ideas.

This is pretty much how I feel about it. There was a problem in Iraq, and it was regularly spilling over to other countries. All other methods of dealing with the situation had been tried (covert action, encouraging revolt, using U.N. sanctions, etc.), without success. Saddam was going to have to be dealt with eventually, and the longer we waited, the worse the problem was getting. We *might* have been able to time the war better, or do a better job of getting international support, but overall, I think the invasion was probably timed about the best it could be, considering issues of will, resources, weather, and so forth. Which still didn't mean it was a *good* time to invade, but was probably the best available option among a series of even worse options.

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