I believe myself today in hindsight that it was a mistake to invade Iraq the second time....no question in my mind
The bitter fruits of that are bountiful
We all got caught up in it......it was a strategic message to any nation thinking of hosting large scale jihad targeted at us
We will come for you and regime change
But the Middle East is worse off now for our effort.....
My view
Saddam ...monster he was ...was a fundie slayer of the first order and balanced Iran
Plus it’s the ultimate hubris to think primitive superstitious peoples of varied ethnicities who hate each other can be forced to live together especially under the Pollyanna notion of democracy or if they even want it
Maybe they actually refer warlord tribalism or supreme ruler over our so called freedom
Saddam killed radical Muslims and he balanced out Iran so he had that going for him. But ultimately in 50 years, Iraq may be better off. Democracy is messy so far but they’re making progress.