The U.S. was caught off-guard on this one, in terms of the aftermath of the war itself. Nobody expected the consensus of the Iraqi people to be as follows:
"Thanks for the help, Yankees. Now turn the lights back on and get the f#ck out of here while we go about creating an Islamic State of Southern Iraq, a Kurdish State of Northern Iraq, a Ba'athist State of Baghdad, etc."
There was a retired general who raised some concerns early on that "keeping the peace" would require several hundred thousand troops, but these concerns were dismissed out of hand by no less a military genius than Paul Wolfowitz (sarcasm /off/), who insisted that most U.S. troops would be on their way home by now. Instead, 150,000 troops are going to remain, and they will be supplemented by another 20,000 U.S. troops and 20,000 foreign peacekeepers.
I am wary about the occupation of Iraq. I read press reports about things going badly in Iraq with a jaundiced eye- being aware that the media is generally Anti Bush and ovrplays events consistently (remember the "quagmire" reports during the war because some supply columns were attacked behind the front lines?) But the lights still ain't on fully in Baghdad and there seems to be some merit to the claims of confusion and lack of planning for post war Iraq (which is disturbing since it should have been the highest priority). Further - we are suffering about 1 KIA a day due to hostile action. I am also concerned that DoD is issuing blueprints for remaking Iraqi society! I sure hope this ain't a "Best and Brightest" operation.