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.
Thanks. I remember hearing some stat just before we went into Iraq. It was something like “75% of everyone in Iraq hated America and would fight to the death to keep us out of Iraq”. When you combined that with the number of neighboring similar arab countries, It was clear that there was no way we were going to kill the number of people necessary to reach a peaceful solution. We did not have the political will to accomplish a lasting democracy there. The political will to do what would be necessary. Even George Bush did not have in him what would be necessary to accomplish the mission. We’re just not going to go over there and kill millions of people, and they are not going to convert.