Bush Jr’s “deBaathification” destroyed Iraq. Criminalizing the entire government and disbanding the Iraqi Army resulted in a power vacuum, chaos and insurgency. But Bush wanted to force democracy on a region where they just don’t want it. And now there is no counter to Iranian hegemony from Iran to the Mediterranean Sea. What a disaster.
The only reason I voted for that idiot is that the alternative was worse.
L
I’ve gone from an amused tolerance of GWB to thinking he was among the very worst presidents we’d had in quite a while. The very idea that an overwhelming US attack on Iraq would lead to a nationwide adoption of some form of democracy was a truly puerile idea that any Arab high-school student could have easily and quickly debunked.
Throughout history, the hardest thing to do has always been to get people to change their religion. So with massive military action we were going to get the Iraqis to renounce their religion (where their local Imam is the governing entity) in favor of some form of democracy, where elected representatives were the new governing entity; of which they had zero experience in their entire history and which was being installed perforce by an invading army; was simply absurd.
Sorry for the brutality of Saddam but Iraq was the counter balance to Iran. Real politik doesn’t care about feelings. The only factor involved in American foreign policies should be the safety,security and defense of America and Americans. Iran continues to terrorize the world and murder Americans. They are within the reality of being nuclear armed. If they had their way, a major American city of their choosing would be wiped out or better yet an EMP turning the country’s lights out. Iran should have been wiped out after the Iranian Beirut slaughter of our Marines.