I don’t know if its entirely coincidence, but I also don’t buy into conspiracy either.
We went into Iraq in 91’ because we had a defense agreement with Kuwait, because Saddam was guilty of attacking the USS Stark for no reason as well as being a generally nasty character, world economies depended on ME oil, and because history told us that sitting back while a ruthless dictator invaded neighboring countries would lead to no good.
The years that followed, 911, the attempt to democratize Iraq, Libya, Syria, each has things unique as well as things in common.
It could be argued that certain pols (you point at Bush) had personal interests, but it can also be argued that actions taken were in national interests. Maybe some personal and national interests intersected in one case (ie Bush) where in other cases they were opposed (ie BHO/Clinton).
Each has to be viewed and argued on its own merits. Binning everything into one of two categories doesn’t help.
It's mind-boggling how anyone could ever look back and justify that bullsh!t anymore. I supported Donald Trump because I hoped those days would come to an end here.
... sitting back while a ruthless dictator invaded neighboring countries would lead to no good.
Right. The preferred course of action is to sell arms to a neighboring country like Saudi Arabia that supports civil insurrections among its neighbors.