George W. Bush is a great campaigner. I remain astounded that he still fools 40 percent of the American people into thinking that Saddam had something to do with Sept. 11, and that the invasion of Iraq was a legitimate part of the war on terror.

Vice President Cheney, more than any other, has misled him and, I believe, is responsible for the Iraq “miscalculation.” And yet he remains both on the ticket and, it seems, in the inner circle.

Bush went into Iraq with his head full of the glory that Cheney painted: They will receive us as liberators, our friend and ally Chalabi will soon be installed as president, the oil will pay for the reconstruction and all Iraqis will go to the polls exercising their newfound freedom, all the while paying homage to their American friends.

We don’t need a postwar plan, we don’t need security against looting, or insurgents, or an influx of al-Qaida, or Iran. Thanks, Colin Powell, for the extensive State Department memos on postwar planning, but we don’t need them. Thanks, generals for the recommendations that we use more troops, but we don’t need them. Thanks, Democrats and the U.N., for the warning that we need a broader coalition, but we don’t need them.

Bring ’em on.

It didn’t quite work out that way.

Bush can’t think of any mistake he has made in office, but he does admit to one slight “miscalculation.”

Miscalculation?

Is there a prize for the understatement of the century?

Jonathan Harris, Auburn