Paul Krugman, on the New York Times op-ed page, reminds us that intelligence analysts protested being asked to cook the books by BushCo way back last fall; they are now vindicated, as are the military professionals who expressed doubts about whether the resources committed to the Iraqi war could manage the post-invasion circumstances. Military experts say our military strength elsewhere in the world has been weakened by the extent of our forces deployed in Iraq; that the war will seriously impact future recruiting; and that our unilateralism has already made erstwhile allies run for cover as we ask for assistance in occupied Iraq or elsewhere. The dysadministration response to those who notice that the Emperor has no clothes is to smear them. Krugman notes,

“…if we’re going to talk about aiding the enemy: By cooking intelligence to promote a war that wasn’t urgent, the administration has squandered our military strength. This provides a lot of aid and comfort to Osama bin Laden — who really did attack America — and Kim Jong Il — who really is building nukes.”

He finishes up with a kicker about the Wilson affair, concluding,

We’ve just seen how politicized, cooked intelligence can damage our national interest. Yet the Wilson affair suggests that the administration intends to continue pressuring analysts to tell it what it wants to hear.