Maureen Dowd: War Analyst
This column is ridiculous on all sorts of levels. First she tells us that Donald "the war czar" Rumsfield has suddenly found out that his plan was bogus; that he should have listened to his generals instead of "cocky theorists" and their "neo-con gurus."

As if she was privy to the planning stage of this war.

Next, she wheels out Vietnam, the Iranian revolution and the fall of the Soviets as examples of how American intelligence services are perennial dolts.

She goes on to say the administration was caught by surprise at the subterfuge the overmatched Iraqis have employed to make some unfortunate, but piddling, nicks on the American armed forces. She tosses in a Sun Tzu quote to enforce the the stupidity angle a second time, and keeps beating that dog by saying the American war planners were experiencing their own shock and awe because Iraqi citizens were realizing they weren't the target of the bombings.

Finally, she blathers that the planners miscalculated by leaving Iraqi TV on the air, allowing Saddam to use it for propaganda.

Yo, Mo. Nobody was surprised that the Iraqi citizenry could figure out that the bombs were not coming down on their heads. At least, no one who believes the average Iraqi is a lot like the average Anybody with a Working Brain. As far as leaving the TV station running, Saddam's blustering might have played out in the sticks, but the cityfolk only had to look out their windows to know he was full of shit.

I'l wager Dowdy Girl has her radio tuned to NPR, and her television locked down on the BBC.

Which, in New York City, are currently speaking with the same left wing, anti-American, British voice.

Instead of looking back and playing armchair general, her colleague Thomas Friedman offers a good piece,Scorecard for the War, outlining how we can tell if this war has achieved its goal (although his slap at Israel in #3 seems little more than a backhand slap).