In balancing the lives lost (8,000 American service and contractors; 280,000 civilian Iraqis); the immense cost (at least $ 3 billion); the disappearance of the 10 percent of the Iraqi population that was Christian; the reorientation of the country from an enemy to an ally of Iran; and for many other reasons, I really don’t believe it was at all balanced or justified by the fact that this individual can walk back to his home again in West Baghdad without fear. Try to say that about now living in NYC, SFO or Chicago.
> the reorientation of the country [Iraq] from an enemy to an ally of Iran <
That is a very important point. We will pay for Bush II’s mistake for many years to come.
Please permit me to add one more thing to your list. Bush’s invasion turned western Iraq into a lawless area. From that region insurgents were able to spark the Syrian civil war. And from that war there was a mass Muslim migration to Europe.
So it can be fairly argued that the Muslim problem in Europe is partially Bush’s fault. The law of unintended consequences strikes again.