Eric Shinseki

Before the war began, the Army Chief of Staff, Eric Shinseki, told the US Senate Armed Services committee that “something in the order of several hundred thousand soldiers” would be needed to occupy Iraq. Donald Rumsfeld, then the US Secretary of State, and his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, publicly rubbished the claim as “far off the mark”. General Shinseki retired quietly from the military four months later, seemingly in disgrace. Neither Mr Wolfowitz nor Mr Rumsfeld attended his retirement ceremony. But testifying before Congress in 2006, General John Abizaid, then the Chief of US Central Command, conceded that General Shinseki’s estimate had proved correct. Since his retirement General Shinseki has kept a strict public silence, declining all interviews and telling associates: “I do not want to criticise while my soldiers are still bleeding and dying in Iraq.” He splits his time between his Washington home and his native Hawaii, consulting with academic organisations, private companies and military support groups.

Hattie Garlick

Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri

When Iraqi authorities announced in 2004 that they had captured Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, the only surprise was that it had taken so long. With his distinctive red hair and pale skin, the Saddam Hussein loyalist with a $10 million (£5 million) bounty on his head should have been an easy catch. But within hours the US said that the reports were false. Nevertheless, it was still surprising when, last year, the remnants of Saddam’s Baath party claimed that al-Douri was their new leader. Two years before they had claimed that he had died of cancer. Al-Douri, the King of Clubs on America’s “most-wanted” playing cards, suffered from leukaemia before the war and is now probably little more than a figurehead. An Iraqi security source told The Times: “He is a very sick man and we don’t think he can really function any more.” He is probably hiding in Syria or Yemen.

Tom Whipple

Times Recommends

• Settlers burn Koran in mosque attack
• Gorillas threatened by charcoal trade
• Israeli anger at new Palestine food labels