Plans for Occupation; Plans for the Mid East

Nicholas Lemann was one of the first writers to unmask the personalities behind the Bush administration's march to war in Iraq (PNAC alums, mostly) in a piece he wrote for the New Yorker back in March. This month he elaborates on the American plan to remake the Middle East.

In a related article, Jonathan Wright of Reuters writes that the plans for a post-war Iraq include a two-year military occupation, although "enormous uncertainties" make it impossible to predict how long the occupation will last or how much it will cost. In other words, nobody has a clue how an Iraq invasion will turn out in the long run.

Update: Here's a projection of the way an Iraq invasion and occupation might play out.