[Cronos]

I think the problem started with George Bush Senior on many counts:

1. He went after Saddam hussein -- Saddam was an evil dictator, but he was a secular evil dictator who was the enemy of the Irani Ayatollahs and Al-Qaeda and he threatened Saudi Arabia (the latter reason is why he is out), but if we let him keep Kuwait he would by now be killing off jihadis and have knocked out the ayatollahs and cowed the Saudis and Qataris
2. He didn't do more to engage the Russians after the fall of communism

And this was continued and exacerbated by Clintoon

1. He didn't fully engage with Russia -- when it was floundering under Yeltsin that owuld have been the time to be the magnanimous winner and made it our ally, like we did at the end of WWII with Germany and Japan
2. He gave too much to China andhelped fuel their rise
3. He didn't knock off the Taliban when he had the chance

[Cronos]

That doesn’t exonerate Obama, but GW played the cards he was dealt and Obama made a bad hand worse...

[Verginius Rufus]

Don’t forget Jimmy Carter’s role in assisting the overthrow of the shah of Iran.