If we are discussing Iraq I'd say the best thing to make sure you do what is almost 100% the right thing to do is this.

Get George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Condaleeza Rice together in a room, and listen to them discuss it. Observe the tossing around of ideas, the in depth inspection of every plan, the weighing of all possible outcomes, and see a strong consensus emerge...

Then do exactly the opposite of that.

Fish on...

Todd