4 years after the Pentagon predicted "shock and awe" would lead to a quick and decisive victory

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THE IRAQ WAR: THEN AND NOW

War's players, 4 years later

Published March 19, 2007


In March 2003, as the U.S. military prepared to invade Iraq, the Pentagon predicted "shock and awe," a phrase that raised hopes of a quick and decisive victory. But Tuesday, the fourth anniversary of the beginning of the war, finds the United States in the midst of a troop increase that will bring its force in Iraq to about 160,000. Here are some newsworthy figures at the start of the war, and where they are today:

The U.S. general who led the invasion retired a few months later and now earns money on the lecture circuit. He and his wife, Cathy, have built their dream home in Oklahoma. "Iran is a potential threat," he told The Daily Oklahoman this month. "But it's not the kind of threat that many politicians put it up to be. I've heard people say we should just start bombing. That's crazy. War shouldn't be a first option. War should be a last option."

Ahmad Chalabi

The Iraqi exile helped persuade the U.S. to attack by insisting that Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction. He fell out of favor with the U.S. in the months after the invasion. Now he heads an effort to build support for Baghdad's new security plan, and there is talk of him joining the Iraqi Cabinet.

Paul Wolfowitz

The former deputy defense secretary, who earned his doctorate at the University of Chicago and was one of the "neocons" supporting aggressive action against Saddam Hussein, is now president of the World Bank.