Dr. David Kilcullen, the senior counter-terrorism advisor to the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. A former Australian army Lt. Col. he has written most of the latest military doctrine in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was asked for comment and said the decision to invade Iraq "stupid" -- in fact, he said "fucking 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."