I think that was actually a secondary factor. The primary factor was the complete political and cultural dysfunction of the place -- which made it impossible to govern in any way that we as Americans would recognize as normal or legitimate.
Go back and read the transcripts of the interviews Dick Cheney was doing in the early 1990s when he was explaining why the U.S. didn't topple Saddam Hussein's Ba'athist regime in the first Gulf War. His assessment back then was spot-on ... which is what makes his role in the Bush administration particularly disgraceful. Frankly, the guy should be given the same place in the ash heap of history as an @sshole like Robert McNamara -- because he knew damn well what the U.S. was getting into in 2003 but obviously didn't give a sh!t.
Frankly, the guy should be given the same place in the ash heap of history as an @sshole like Robert McNamara — because he knew damn well what the U.S. was getting into in 2003 but obviously didn’t give a sh!t.
Fact - Saddam had plans to reinvigorate his WMD programs when the sanctions were lifted. The sanctions were falling apart when we invaded.
Fact - Saddam was negotiating with Al Queda before we invaded. They had not reached agreement yet. Then we invaded.
You assume that everything would be just wonderful if we had not invaded. But there are plenty of scenarios where things could have been much worse.
One thing President Bush did not anticipate - The incredible hostility of the Establishment Media, willing, and urging, an American defeat rather than allow a Republican president to win a war.
Of course that chance has now been shot to hell by the destruction deliberately inflicted by Obama, who was determined to make "Bush's war" a failure. Obama, infatuated with himself (and under the illusion that all historians would always be as gullible as the Nobel Committee), thought that his base political motives for destroying Iraq would never be exposed. But it looks as if he is already being proved wrong on that assessment.
And btw, I still respect Dick Cheney, and disagree with your harsh words.