President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney meet with national security leaders in the Cabinet Room at the White House in Washington, on Sept. 12, 2001. (Stephen Crowley/The New York Times)

FILE -- President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney meet with national security leaders in the Cabinet Room at the White House in Washington, on Sept. 12, 2001. The White House, Congress, the military and the intelligence agencies see the Iraq war as an abject lesson in failed policymaking, one deeply absorbed if not thoroughly learned. (Stephen Crowley/The New York Times)