In a forthcoming manual on counterinsurgency strategy written by David Kilcullen, a former Australian Army officer who is now an adviser to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has something to say about the Iraq war. Kilcullen, who helped Petraeus design his 2007 counterinsurgency strategy in Iraq, called the decision to invade Iraq "stupid" -- in fact, he said "fX$?!ing stupid" -- and suggested that if policy-makers apply the manual's lessons, similar wars can be avoided in the future.

"The biggest stupid idea," Kilcullen said, "was to invade Iraq in the first place."