After 9/11 2001, George W. Bush quickly shifted the focus from Afghanistan to Iraq. Throughout 2002, the Bush administration undertook a diplomatic effort to gain UN authorization for military action as they alleged that the Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, developed weapons of mass destruction and aiding terrorist organisations.

It was a period characterized by intense pressure, debate, and eventual conflict over whether Iraq was in compliance with UN demands. On September 12, 2002, President Bush addressed the UN General Assembly, challenging the UN to enforce its own resolutions on Iraq’s disarmament, saying “action will be unavoidable” if the UN fails to act.

On October 11, 2002, US Congress overwhelmingly authorized President Bush to use military force against Iraq. On November 8, the UN Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1441, offering Iraq “a final opportunity” to disarm and warning of “serious consequences” if it fails to comply. However, the US failed to secure a second resolution explicitly authorizing force. 

While Iraq claimed that it had no current WMD program, on February 5, 2003, Secretary of State Colin Powell made his infamous, detailed presentation to the UN Security Council, presenting evidence of Iraq’s alleged WMD program. However, he failed to persuade many Council members, who demanded more time for inspections. In hindsight, Powell’s presentation must be considered a major intelligence failure, to say the least.

So, Operation Iraqi Freedom was launched March 19, 2003 after UN weapons inspectors had left Iraq the day before. Despite Bushs claim, Mission Accomplished! on May 1st, 2023, the Iraq War went on for at least eight more years.

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Compared with the current US administration under President Donald Trump, the Bush administration with Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell and later, in Bush’s second term, Condollezza Rice, must be regarded highly professional in their planning. They were seeking support from Congress, from the UN (failing to get authorization to use force), and bipartisan support from all Americans.

They even sought support from strong allies in Nato. Germany and France famously declined. Then German Chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, stated that Germany would not participate in any “adventures” and that the country would not follow the U.S. into war without a UN mandate. 

As compared to the present Secretary of Defence (or War, depending on approval of Congress), Pete Hegseth, then Secretary of Defence, Donald Rumsfeld must be regarded even a philosopher. He famously mused at a Pentagon news briefing about the lack of evidence linking the government of Iraq with the supply of weapons of mass destruction to terrorist groups,

“Reports that say that something hasn’t happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don’t know we don’t know. And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tends to be the difficult ones.”

The unknown unknowns are making politicians wary. They should take them into account, in particular when waging war. When Donald Trump bragged that no president had dared to attack Iran in 47 years (after the Islamic Revolution), but he did it, it must be regarded deplorable. Now, having not asked Congress, the UN, the allies in Nato, the American public, not even those supporting MAGA; and realising that Iran had “cards” (the Strait of Hormuz, drones, missiles, an exchangeable leadership on each and every level) the mess is enormous. He not even considered the unknown unknowns. He also disregarded the known unknowns. And, what is even worse, the known knowns.

When he now considers to send ground troops to Iran’s Kharg Island pressuring them to end the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz (the blockade is certainly a known known) he apparently doesn’t consider Iran’s launch pads for drones and missiles on Qeshm Island, directly in the Strait (a known unknown).

Do his advisers tell him? Probably. Does he listen? Never!

There is a saying that is probably due to human wisdom. I once thought it is Arabic.

“He who knows not and knows not that he knows not, shun him. And he who knows not and knows that he knows not, awaken him. And he who knows and knows that he knows, follow him.”

We should not blindly follow someone into adventures who does not know that he does not know.

20 March 2026 @ 17:48 UTC+1.

Last modified March 20, 2026.