Rarely surprised?

"Frustrated? Sometimes I'm frustrated. Rarely surprised. Sometimes I'm happy. This is -- but war is not a time of joy. These aren't joyous times. These are challenging times, and they're difficult times, and they're straining the psyche of our country. I understand that." -- President Bush, press conference Aug 21, 2006

I'd like to know which developments in Iraq he wasn't surprised about. And why is it better to be unsurprised, but too incompetent to plan for it, than to be too incompetent to expect it?

• Iraq had no WMDs
• Not sending enough troops to start with
• Chalabi lied
• It wasn’t a slam dunk
• Massive looting after the invasion
• Munitions stolen during the looting
• Power struggle after Sadam was removed
• The time it took to change from liberators to occupiers
• Sectarian violence
• Needing a Green Zone
• Abu Ghraib
• Accusations of war crimes
• Corruption in the new Iraqi government
• Corruption in the rebuilding
• Corruption in the privatization of military functions
• Loss of 9 billion dollars by the Development Fund for Iraq
• Three years and no end in sight
• Over 2500 US soldiers killed
• Uncountable Iraqis killed
• IEDs
• Suicide bombers
• Inadequate armor for troops
• Depleted uranium affecting our troops, and the Iraqi people
• Shortages in military recruiting
• Stop loss orders creating a back door draft
• Soldiers sent on multiple deployments
• Medical needs for wounded soldiers
• Loss of rights for Iraqi women
• Epidemic kidnapping of Iraqi citizens
• Oil shortages in Iraq
• Iraqi utilities not up to pre-war standards after three years
• Rising influence of religious sects
• Rising influence of Iran
• Cost of war over $300,000,000,000
• Pullouts from the Coalition of the Willing
• Using so much of our resources that we need the UN’s help with other problems