After 9-11 President Bush said we would chase down terrorists where ever they are. That any country that provided comfort to those terrorists would be treated as the terrorists. We all loved that sentiment and agreed with it. But our country did not have the political will to do that. If we had truly pursued that strategy, the war would have been over in about 2 years and we would not have all of our young men and women shot up.
So when I hear Dick Cheney (like I did this morning) I'd like to tell him to go back to producing oil and gas and get out of world politics.
In my opinion, going into Iraq was wrong. Maintaining stability in Iraq after we had control was important too. That is where Obama failed miserably. We’re talking two exclusive events/situations. Could it be that both failed? Yeah, I know Bush failed. Obama failed too and Rand should’t let him off the hook.
Your premonition about folly of starting Iraq war was spot on. The current situation vindicates you. I must admit I was for Iraq war in the beginning. But after 11 years more wisdom must have seeped into my skull. Now I see the folly it was.
When Iraq was attacked by Americans, Jihadists found more converts to Jihad. Egypt fell into hands of Muslim brotherhood. Libya was next. Syria is a mess. The entire Arab spring can be traced back to Iraq war.