After thinking over the connections between ROTS and AOTC, I came to the conclusion that the Jedi Order relied on the Force too much.

I know that sounds nuts. But think about it: throughout the PT, the Jedi constantly act on vague premonitions of danger ("Clouded, the boy's future is") while ignoring threats that are blatantly obvious to us Forceless ones. Such as the clone army.

I mean, come on. Obiwan had way more information than he needed to realize that there was something sinister going on with those clones. Sherlock Holmes would be spinning in his grave if he actually had one.

Picture it:

You're a member of the Jedi Order investigating an attempted assassination. The assassin is herself assassinated. When you check the Jedi Archives for the system from which the dart used on the assassin comes, it's not there, though the stars around it indicate that there is something massive there. It's possible someone erased the information, but only a Jedi could have done so. You go to where Kamino ought to be and find it. The cloners inform you that the army the Jedi ordered is ready. The Jedi that they say ordered the army ten years ago was killed - ten years ago. You learn that the clones are modified to be obedient. You find out that the bounty hunter you've been tracking is the template for the clones. You're pretty sure the Trade Federation hired him for the hit, and you know the TF has some connection to that Sith you killed ten years ago. The bounty hunter says he was hired for the clone job by a man named Tyranus. Soon after, you discover that Dooku, a former Jedi, is now on the dark side and knows how to use Sith lightening. He tells you that a Sith Lord is controlling the Senate.

Based on this information, do you

a) dismiss the idea of a Sith controlling the Senate (but do keep looking elsewhere for the Sith you've known for ten years must be out there), take command of the clone army, separate your Jedi and place each one in command of a large number of clones on isolated backwater planets where they can't easily escape or call for help, or

b) DON'T USE THOSE CLONES. The Jedi didn't order the army as far as you know, and it's unlikely to be a gift from a secret admirer - you have a bad feeling about this. Maybe you're wrong, but it's better not to risk it, especially if there is a connection between the cloners and the Trade Federation or the Sith. You're going to investigate first. Possible leads: the mysterious Tyranus, the alteration of the Archives, and Dooku's activities (did he alter the records? is he just Dark or could he be Sith?). You also start investigating the Senate just in case Dooku was telling the truth.

The Jedi picked a).

This is why I say the Jedi relied on the Force too much: they acted on all sorts of smudges in the Force, but if something didn't trigger their Jedi threat-detector sense, they just plunged ahead. Even when they knew that the dark side was clouding their vision, meaning the Force was less than reliable, they continued to rely almost solely on their feelings to guide them. They don't rely totally on the Force to do all their fighting - they work out and practice their saber skills constantly - so why do they rely on the Force to do their thinking?

Consider: Obiwan did not find Kamino with the Force. He consulted the Temple's analysis droids, got nothing, asked his friend Dex and got some coordinates, consulted the Temple's Archives, couldn't find the system, asked Yoda, and got the answer from a youngling - who, as far as we can tell, didn't use the Force to figure out the answer, being hardly trained in its use. Obiwan used other peoples' brains to find Kamino. (To his credit, at least he knew how to find information, even if he didn't always put the pieces together.)

And then neither he nor the other Jedi suggested not using the clone army. Yoda, who at nearly 900 really ought to know better by now, was the one who deployed them. Sure, they worried about the effects the war might have on the galaxy and the Jedi psychologically, but did anyone ever stop and say, "Gee, maybe we should see if these guys are really safe?"

Come on! You don't even need to meditate on that one; a seven year old could tell you that was a bad idea! Maybe he should have consulted the younglings again. (Or Han Solo - he would have been about 7 in AOTC.)

It took three years for the Jedi to figure out what was going on, and most of it was of the "hindsight is 20/20" sort. And they presumably got far more information during those years than we did. Perhaps mystery novels should have been on the Jedi curriculum.

Part II: The Sherlocks