Editing Nicholas Kristof (section)

===Iraq War===
Kristof was opposed to the [[Iraq War]] and grew further opposed as time went on. In a column published on January 28, 2003, he summarized his position by writing, "If we were confident that we could oust [[Saddam]] with minimal casualties and quickly establish a democratic [[Iraq]], then that would be fine -- and such a happy scenario is conceivable. But it's a mistake to invade countries based on best-case scenarios."<ref name="query.nytimes.com">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/28/opinion/iraq-war-the-first-question.html|title=Iraq War: The First Question|last=Kristof|first=Nicholas|date=January 28, 2003|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=June 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923145211/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/28/opinion/iraq-war-the-first-question.html|archive-date=September 23, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> He continued, "Frankly, it seems a bad idea to sacrifice our troops' lives -- along with billions of dollars -- in a way that may add to our vulnerability."<ref name="first-question">{{cite news|last=Kristof|first=Nicholas D.|date=January 28, 2003|title=Iraq War: The First Question|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/28/opinion/iraq-war-the-first-question.html|url-status=live|access-date=October 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171007070351/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/28/opinion/iraq-war-the-first-question.html|archive-date=October 7, 2017}}</ref>

Kristof was criticized at the time for reporting that Iraqis opposed an American invasion. [[Andrew Sullivan]] was among Kristof's critics but in 2018, on the 15th anniversary of the war, apologized to Kristof in a tweet.<ref>{{cite tweet|user=sullydish|last=Sullivan|first=Andrew|number=976553998554681346|title=I remain ashamed, have apologized many times, have produced an e-book, detailing my errors, "I Was Wrong", and all of this remains on my conscience. A personal apology to you, Nick.|date=March 21, 2018}}</ref>

In a column published on August 27, 2002, "Wimps on Iraq", he wrote "To us the existing Iraq debate seems largely beside the point; the real issue isn't whether we want to overthrow Saddam, but what price we would have to pay to get the job done."<ref name="query.nytimes.com" /> He concludes, after detailing five practical concerns about invading Iraq, "So if Mr. Bush were really addressing these concerns, weighing them and then concluding that on balance it's worth an invasion, I'd be reassured. But instead it looks as if the president, intoxicated by moral clarity, has decided that whatever the cost, whatever the risks, he will invade Iraq."<ref name="query.nytimes.com" /> In the same column, he wrote, "President Bush has convinced me that there is no philosophical reason we should not overthrow the Iraqi government, given that Iraqis themselves would be better off, along with the rest of the world. But Mr. Bush has not overcome some practical concerns about an invasion."<ref name="query.nytimes.com" />

In the column "The Day After" in September 2002, Kristof wrote, "In one Shiite city after another, expect battles between rebels and army units, periodic calls for an Iranian-style theocracy, and perhaps a drift toward civil war. For the last few days, I've been traveling in these Shiite cities—[[Karbala]], [[Najaf]] and [[Basra]]—and the tension in the bazaars is thicker than the dust behind the donkey carts. So before we rush into Iraq, we need to think through what we will do the morning after Saddam is toppled. Do we send in troops to try to seize the mortars and machine guns from the warring factions? Or do we run from civil war, and risk letting Iran cultivate its own puppet regime?"<ref name="The-Day-After">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/24/opinion/the-day-after.html|title=The Day After|last=Kristof|first=Nicholas|date=September 24, 2002|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=October 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171008080528/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/24/opinion/the-day-after.html|archive-date=October 8, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

On May 6, 2003, less than two months into the war, Kristof published the op-ed column "Missing in Action: Truth" in which he questioned whether the intelligence gathered by the Bush administration, which purportedly indicated that Saddam Hussein possessed [[weapons of mass destruction]], was either faked or manipulated. In this article, Kristof cited as his source a "former ambassador" who had traveled to [[Niger]] in early 2002 and reported to the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA) and the State Department that the uranium "allegations were unequivocally wrong and based on forged documents". Kristof added, "The envoy's debunking of the forgery was passed around the administration and seemed to be accepted—except that President Bush and the State Department kept citing it anyway."<ref>{{cite news |first=Nicholas D. |last=Kristof |title=Why Truth Matters |url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/05/06/nyt.kristof/ |work=[[The New York Times]] via [[CNN]] |date=May 6, 2003 |access-date=October 25, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061202155023/http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/05/06/nyt.kristof/ |archive-date=December 2, 2006 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Two months later, former Ambassador [[Joseph C. Wilson IV]] came forward publicly and published a now-famous op-ed in ''The New York Times'', "What I Didn't Find in Africa."<ref>{{cite news|first=Joseph C. |last=Wilson |author-link=Joseph C. Wilson |title=What I Didn't Find in Africa |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/06/opinion/06WILS.html?ex=1372824000&en=6c6aeb1ce960dec0&ei=5007 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=July 6, 2003 |access-date=March 11, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071118105823/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/06/opinion/06WILS.html?ex=1372824000&en=6c6aeb1ce960dec0&ei=5007 |archive-date=November 18, 2007 }}</ref> This set off a series of events which resulted in what become known as "[[Plamegate]]", the disclosure by the journalist [[Robert Novak]] of the until-then covert status as a CIA officer of Wilson's wife, [[Valerie Plame Wilson]]. A criminal investigation was launched as to the source of the leak, as a consequence of which [[Scooter Libby|I. Lewis ("Scooter") Libby]], then-Chief of Staff to Vice President [[Dick Cheney]], was indicted on obstruction of justice, false statement, and perjury charges and subsequently convicted and sentenced to 30&nbsp;months in federal prison and a $250,000 fine though he never served time in prison because President Bush commuted his prison sentence. Kristof's May 6 article was mentioned in the federal indictment of Libby as a key point in time and a contributing factor that caused Libby to inquire about the identity of the "envoy" and later to divulge the secret identity of his wife to reporters.<ref>{{cite press release |title=White House Official I. Lewis Libby Indicted on Obstruction of Justice, False Statement and Perjury Charges Relating to Leak of Classified Information Revealing CIA Officer's Identity |publisher=[[United States Department of Justice]] Office of Special Counsel |date=October 28, 2005 |url=http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/iln/osc/documents/libby_pr_28102005.pdf |access-date=October 25, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070205195038/http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/iln/osc/documents/libby_pr_28102005.pdf |archive-date=February 5, 2007 |url-status=live }}</ref>