Correct. Instead of gulf war 2, if bush went into Pakistan, he would have killed osama, not led to Islamic state and ended the pustule that is Pakistan
I’m not either or.
Clearly, the real target in the Middle East was Iran.
Clearly, the real purpose of going into Iraq was to confront Iran on two fronts.
Clearly, after insurgencies picked up in Afghanistan and Iraq and political resistance grew in Washington, suppressing the insurgencies distracted from the object of crushing Iran to the point that Bush 43 lost his focus and his nerve.