host: you are on with tom ricks. good morning. caller: please pay us a picture of what life would be like if we never took out saddam hussein and his boys. guest: good question. i think it goes to the issue of what saddam hussein was. he was an aging, a toothless tiger. he did not have weapons of mass destruction, and certainly was not a threat to the united states. was a lousy leader? absolutely. was a terrible to his people? no question. they are all around the world. how many are we going to knock off? my big worry is a new strongman emerges, tougher, meaner, younger, more energetic than hussain, with a similar purchase. that is what we may end up with, a new, tough, and mean version who unites the country under the banner of anti-americanism. who uses oil money flowing and uses revenue to buy mass destruction weapons, then you may end up with an iraq that is the country the bush administration thought they were in 2003. but the administration invasion might actually create threats. host: our correspondent from the "christian s

tom ricks hasn't worn a tie since 1973. last night i think there's a lesson here that just because it hasn't happened before doesn't mean it's not going to happen. i said that i served in iraq for just a few months, which is, you know, there are folks in the audience who spent years on the ground there. and again, i was really trying to lose the war. all the indiscriminate targeting we were doing in the fall and winter of 2003, 2004, yeah you can blame me. ironically though, one of the things that we haven't really seen come out in any of the narratives about the iraq war thus far and really in a coherent manner this is partly due to classification issues is at the beginning of the iraq war, those of us in a special operation units and task forces i think misdiagnosed the iraq war. without we confused while with a nascent insurgency for a counterterror problem. we essentially approached the problems like we would, i don't know, the red army faction in germany and kicked down a lot of doors and took out a lot of windows tryi

. >> tom ricks? >> okay. on the issue of mahdi army, sons of iraq. this is something that was written about eloquently which is the short-term solutions, that petraeus and owed merrill implemented, mainly to long-term problem. this guy takes us back to host government issues, which is the sons of iraq would tell you if you ask them, and i did, what do you think of the baghdad government? they said as his you guys are out of the way we're going after them. we're just keeping the powder dry until we can get them. so i think there are long-term problems created there. a second question is lessons. we should also be asking what the enemy has learned. and i think with the enemy has seen globally in iraq and afghanistan is that the united states can be taken on. and this is one reason to pay attention to the hezbollah versus israel fight, the summer of '06. what we are seeing is a regular forces now have sufficient precision to firepower that they can add to do quite a lot of damage to what used to be overwhelming conventional forces. when hezbollah light

tom ricks. >> okay, on the issue of the sons of iraq, think that is a really good question. that is something he has written about eloquently which is that the short-term solution, the petraeus and zero dear now implemented the long-term problems. this takes us back to host government issues which is the sons of iraq would tell you if you ask them and i did, what do you think of the baghdad government? as soon as the governments are out of the way we're going after them. we're just keeping up our dry until we can get them. so i think their long-term problems created there. a second question is lessons. we should also be asking what the enemy has learned. and i think what the enemy has been globally in iraq and afghanistan is that the united states can be taken off. and this is one reason to pay attention to the hezbollah versus israel fight of the summer of 06. what we're seeing is the regular forces now have sufficient provision and firepower that they can actually do quite a lot of damage to what used to be overwhelming conventional forces. when hezbollah infantry can stop

tom ricks hasn't warn a tie since 1973, but i think there's a lesson here -- just because it hasn't happenedfore doesn't mean it isn't going to happen. i said i served in iraq. again, i was really trying to lose the war. all that indiscriminate targeting we were doing in the fall of 2003 and 2004, yes, you can blame me. ironically, though, one of the things that i haven't really seen come out in any of the narratives about the iraq war thus far, and really in a coherent manner was that, you know, the beginning of the iraq war, those of us who were in the special operations units and task forces, i think, misdiagnosed the iraq war. we thought -- we confused an insurgency for a counterterrorism problem. we approached the problem set like we would the red army faction in germany and kicked down a lot of doors and broke down a lot of windows. remember the deck of cards? trying to get those guys on a certain list. now when a counterterrorism or special operations task force are linked in with a wider counterinsurgency campaign, it can have a deadly effect on the ability to operate. i think that's

assistance in bringing this important resolution to the floor, especially rick mo raw noah and -- rick morano and tom duncan. i also want to express my sincere appreciation for all my good friend congressman judy biggert has done. she's been at the forefront of literacy for many years in terms of her entire service here in the congress. judy biggert has been in a leadership role in financial literacy and the importance of saving. and all she's done over the years to help improve the financial literacy rate of all individuals across the united states at all stages of life and ms. judy biggert certainly deserves our commendations. she and congressman ruben hinojosa co-founded and currently co-chair the financial and economic literacy caucus, of which i'm a member. both of these outstanding congresspeople, congressman hinojosa could not be here with us today because yesterday was the texas primary and i'm pleased to announce to all of us that he won his primary yesterday. so congratulations to congressman hinojosa and we're glad to move on and carry this torch in his stead today. i also want to take thi

rick. good afternoon, i'm pat lawson muse. >>> we begin with breaking news right now surrounding a virginia congressman. the fbi this afternoon is investigating vandalism at the home of congressman tom pair yellow's brother. this incident comes a day after the posting of his address online by tea party activists. the activists are upset with the congressman in favor of health care reform. police say someone went to the home in charlotte'sville and cut the line to a propane tank. his brother is the owner of the property. no one was hurt. this is one of several acts of vandalism, involving democrats who voted in favor of health care. ten house democrats are receiving access to increased security. >>> a popular baby swing is being recalled this day, this comes a day after the warning about the sufficient indication danger those devices pose to babies. tom costello is following the big story. he's live in the network room. tom, how dangerous are the swings? >> reporter: i think that's depends who you ask. a lot of mothers believe that swings are a great way to bond with your bean. but they can also pose a risk if the swings aren't worn properly. baby can't cry for help. th can actually

the number one question, can rick perry, the current governor, get 50% of the vote and avoid a runoff. >> joining us now is our political powerhouse team, martin frost, tom davis, both sort of -- also, they were elected members who were also consultants to their parties, because they ran the house committee back in the day. i want to play for you sort of the most recent closing arguments of rick perry and kay bailey hutchison. take a listen. >> there's something special going on here, and it didn't happen by accident. that there was a fiscal conservative decisions made over the course of the last six to eight years that really put this state in a very unique position. so a few television ads or radio spots or newspaper advertisements are not going to sway many people. >> the only job that governor perry has created in texas are government jobs. the ads are false. everyone of you knows my record. i stand for texas. i stand for fiscal responsibility. i stand for low taxes. and i have produced low taxes. >> all right. there already have been p prebituaryes written for kay bailey hutchison. why did she run for governor? >> she's always wanted to be governor.