Posted on 03/20/2023 8:46:55 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
It’s still too soon to make the definitive historical assessment of the Iraq War, the good, the bad, and the ugly — even assuming such a thing is even possible. But it’s never too soon to correct the historical revisionism that’s taken place in recent years.
There’s a new narrative, peddled increasingly by people on the right, that the war was the sinister work of a cabal of neocon warmongers. I’ve seen this line of thought promoted, sometimes cruelly, by people who seem to have forgotten that, like me, they were on the pro side of the debate. Opinions changed and asses were covered as the Iraq War turned foul — such is human nature. Remember John Kerry during the 2004 presidential election, furiously backpedaling from his own Yea vote on the authorization for the use of force against Saddam.
The biggest mistake I made was in promoting a war that, I said at the time, would require a multi-generational effort at nurturing Iraq’s infant democracy. I forgot, or maybe I chose to forget, the Iron Law of American Public Opinion. After three years of fighting, no matter how just the cause (even WWII), Americans will start to tire of war. If you’re pushing for a major war that doesn’t have a 36-to-48-month endgame, then don’t bother. For what it’s worth, I haven’t since. If it comes down to a choice between cutting off the weapons flow to Ukraine or sending a single American soldier to fight there… then sayonara, Kyiv.
But back to the lead-up to the Iraq War.
The old narrative, peddled largely by those on the left, was the so-called “rush to war.” President George W. Bush just went to war one day, without considering the consequences.
(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...
Good article.
Iraq is definitely better off now than they were in 2003 and I hope things continue to improve.
But yes, it remains to be seen whether the billions of our tax dollars that were pumped into establishing a somewhat stable democracy in a historically troubled region were worth it. I believe that if their democracy strengthens and they continue to upgrade their infrastructure, this could be a positive thing.
Time will tell.
For anyone who is interested here is the FR thread on day one of the war:
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/869771/posts
Pretty much everyone here was for it back then.
Watch the original version first.
The author should be answering how much better off America is.
The real question is, “What if Saddam and Co. had been allowed to continue with their plans during the consolidation of the Middle East against the West back then?” He repeatedly threatened to destroy the U.S.A., and he wasn’t planning to continue hostilities between Iraq and Iran. And Russia was very much against the rescue of Kuwait and war in Iraq. And Syria received many of Saddam’s troops for safekeeping. And both of those nations were beginning efforts to acquire nukes.
Many people fail to think about real consequences of inaction.
I did. And I read the original book, decades ago.
WWI History is one of my hobbies.
My Dad served in that war in 1918.
the govt is evil and has been evil for some time....
they run these wars when they want to boost their rich friends and/or want to gain drug routes, oil, minerals, etc....
in doing so, they conveniently killed off so many worthy young men that should have had many children....
repeated wars in ONE CENTURY alone can diminish the best gene pool ....
and here we are.....7million American men between the ages of 22 and 50 are not working nor looking for work....
Oh please
No
Very true. Don’t forget that a large bipartisan majority of Congress voted for that war. At the time, there was strong support.
I know that now we hate George W. Bush, but at one time, he was very popular on Free Republic.
Opinions change as time goes by. With just about any event, one can point to what people thought at the time, and what people think of the results years later.
Was George W. Bush the right person, is the real question.
Iraq was eventually goes to be one leg of the trans-Arab “nuclear triad of death” and they would destroyed Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and Saudi Arab in one massive surprise attack, despite any threats from nuclear retaliation by the remaining Israel military.
Israel crippled Iran’s plan by destroying the Osirik nuclear facility, Iran’s other facility by use of a computer worm and Syria’s secret nuclear facility. Taking out Saddam eliminated that one leg of the future Nuclear Triad of Death.
Imagine what would have happened if Israel and the US hadn’t done all this!!!
Imagine where we would be today if that had not happened.
No, No, No
Bush is a war criminal. Don’t care if that offends people, its true.
As a bonus the dummy help give us Obama.
The invasion of Iraq was an unmitigated disaster — and some of us predicted it would be so at the time.
The War of Northern Aggression should definitely not have been fought. If 7 states wanted to go their own way, if they no longer consented to be ruled over by the federal government in Washington DC, so be it. Let them go in peace.
As for the 2nd world war....there would have been no 2nd world war had America not gotten involved in the 1st world war. Both sides in WW1 were exhausted. They couldn’t have carried on much longer. Without America getting involved they would have had to reach a reasonable negotiated settlement that would have left the constitutional monarchies in Germany in place. The Hapsburg Empire would not have been destroyed creating an enormous power vacuum in Eastern Europe that would be filled first by the Nazis and then by the Commies. The monstrosity of Yugoslavia would not have been created slapping 7 different ethnic groups who hated each other together in one entity paving the way for future bloodbaths.
With no Versailles Treaty, and the constitutional monarchy still in place in Germany, Hitler would have remained a corporal in the army after having failed as a painter. No political career for him would have been possible.
Yes we were. I will Mo say that I was duped. Ok I was foolish. GWB was one of the worse presidents in a string of idiots.
Lots of the FR names that posted to that thread are not around here anymore.
Ask Iran.
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