I am being a bear about the WMD historical record is not to rehab Bush and especially not Rumsfeld (who anyone who knew me in 2002-2006 could tell you I despised). I am doing so in part because a lot of good people you& #39;ve never heard of were doing their best to figure it out. /1

One of the things I learned writing a book about preventive war is that a lot of people in the U.S. and Europe who worked these issues were genuinely worried and weren& #39;t sure what they were seeing. They were terrified of getting it wrong. /2

The political pressure on them to find a way to rationalize taking out Saddam was intense, but the idea of "taking out Saddam" was not as reviled as it is now, no matter what revisionism you& #39;re being fed. The idea that everyone was lying is shitting on decent people. /3

There were people who had real concerns in every direction, and who were not just tools of Bush or Rummy or whoever. If you think it& #39;s easy to reach intel evaluations that could have massive, life or death implications, then you& #39;re an idiot. /4x