By Fareed Zakaria
The American public has lost interest in the Iraq war. A topic that was at the center of the national political debate is now barely mentioned in passing. The country has decided to move on, rather than debate whether the war was worth it - though for the vast majority of Americans, the answer to that question would be a decided, “no”.
Yet, it was the most significant military conflict that the United States has been in since the Vietnam War, and so it is worth asking – ten years after it began - what lessons might be learned from the war, aftermath, and occupation. Here is my list:
Bring enough troops. The Bush administration chose to go to war with Iraq in a manner that would make it relatively easy politically. It drew up plans for a small invading army and insisted that the costs would be minimal – silencing those within and without the Pentagon who suggested otherwise. In the first phase of the war, toppling Saddam’s army, the plan worked fine. But as the mission turned from invasion to occupation, the military’s “light footprint” proved to be a deadly problem. Iraq moved quickly towards chaos and civil war, under the eyes of American troops who could do little to prevent it. The lesson of the Balkans’ conflicts in the 1990s had been to have a much larger force, by some calculations four times larger than the United States had in Iraq. But that lesson was not learned in 2003. The next time, if it’s worth going to war, it’s worth staffing it properly.
Don’t tear down the state. In the first months of the occupation, the United States disbanded the Iraqi military, sanctioned a process of “deBaathification” – the firing of anyone from a government position who was a member of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party – and shut down Iraq’s state-owned enterprises. The combined effect of these moves was to tell the ruling elite of Iraq, the Sunnis, that there was no place for them in the new Iraq. Unemployed, enraged, and often armed, many Sunnis went on to organize or encourage the insurgency that rocked Iraq for most of the next decade.
Compare those decisions to ones made by Nelson Mandela after the fall of apartheid. Mandela agreed that while his African National Congress would take power, the new ministers would not fire a single existing bureaucrat or general. The entire Afrikaner establishment was preserved, so that they would not be threatened by the new South Africa. The result, almost miraculously, was that there was no insurgency, despite many predictions that it was inevitable.
Don’t knock down doors. As the insurgency began, even in its earliest months, the U.S. military’s response to it was wrong and utterly counterproductive. The army, led by men like General Raymond Odierno, opted for a strategy that emphasized “shock and awe,” breaking down doors of suspected insurgents, rounding up communities, and demonstrating toughness. It backfired, convincing the locals that the Americans were the brutal thugs and that the insurgents had reason to be resisting them. In Mosul, one American general followed a different path. David Petraeus focused from the start on winning over the local population, using money, patronage, and services to create confidence and trust. His approach, which later became the “counterinsurgency” strategy, was adopted by the entire U.S. army in Iraq only after six years of fighting and failing. Ironically, General Odierno became Petraeus’ deputy and one of the key implementers of a strategy that was entirely different from the one he had prosecuted earlier. Better late than never.
Make a deal to include all parties. The crucial challenge in Iraq was to bring the three main communities together – Shia, Sunni, and Kurd – to create a new national power sharing agreement. That would include a division of oil revenues, an allocation of powers and authorities, and a settlement of some territorial disputes. Instead the United States handed the keys over to the Shia majority, trusting that it would treat its two partners fairly. It didn’t happen. The Kurds protected themselves by creating an autonomous republic in the north that is a state in all but name. They issue passports, speak Kurdish, and have their own army. The Sunnis launched an insurgency that persists to this day. The violence has subsided, but Iraq remains a state that has not settled any of its key challenges, and that means it has a province in the north that has all but seceded, and in the center of the country, there is still violence on a daily basis.
Write constitutions before holding elections. The U.S. wanted to craft Iraq’s constitutions and basic laws before rushing to elections. But because it had so bungled the initial year of the occupation, it found it desperately needed Shia support – and that could only come by allowing early elections. Those elections empowered the Shia religious parties that had been backed and sustained by Iran for decades. These groups, one of which is now in power led by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, have little interest in liberty and law. For them, the elections were a way to consolidate power and oppress their political opponents and pursue sectarian conflict. The starkest indication of the collapse of any traces of liberalism or tolerance in Iraq is the fate of the Christian population. After surviving under Saddam Hussein, sanctions, and war, Iraq’s Christians have fled the new democratic Iraq, fearful of their lives, to the point that there are now almost no traces of Christian Iraqis, people who have lived in those lands since the days of the gospels.
This is not the only list of lessons, there are surely others. But many of these are still worth heeding. When we look at Afghanistan, the issue of making a deal with all parties – Pashtun and non-Pashtun - still applies. When we look at Syria, we must ask whether we can intervene effectively with few resources and a lot of good intentions. And when we consider any of these challenges, we should always ask, at least to be prepared, what could go wrong? Because if Iraq teaches anything, it is that in a complicated war in a distant land, what can go wrong often will.
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Anybody who believes that this obscene war should have taken place needs to have their head examined, period! This will be a stigma on this country's honor forever. Then again, it appears that the vast majority of the American public can no longer distinguish between right and wrong or otherwise don't care. Besides, the U.N. has already outlawed aggressive wars like this one but the statute was ignored by both Tony Blair and George Bush.
One, the war will have no effect on the Middle East or America. We lost less men in two wars in 10 years than we lose in car accidents in less than two years. Just as 9/11 is fading so is Iraq and Afghanistan. We will have spent trillion but the governments of the US spend a trillion in 2 plus months. As far as the mistakes in Iraq go, this is par for the course for the US. Most commentators, including Fared, don't read military history (our leaders included). During WW2, we made mistakes that were worse, eg Italy and North Africa. We couldn't fight our way out of a paper bag during the initial phases of ALL of our war (1770 on). As far as this being any more "illegal" or aggressive..... that is just because you were/are an opponent of the right/neoconservatives. This was EXACTLY the war we have been fighting for most of the last 100 years. It always make me amused when people state that W started this war....no, we had been fighting since 1990.....and it continued under Clinton. As far as this being "illegal", it depends on your world view. The reason the "Left" idolizes WW2 is it was one of the few were it could ally itself with the right in a common ideological foe to fight. After that, it could not support the fight against the other totalitarian foe, the Communist. You see that in the current fight, the Left in Europe and the US can not bear to fight a fellow ideological foe, the Islamist (or more specifically a 3rd world ideology).
@William Please Shut the f up...First your comment makes no sense. Second George is referring to the horrors this war created for the Iraqi people not entirely for America. Yes US lost 4000 soldiers but ultimately the Iraqis lost more than 400,000 – destroyed education sectors, infrastructure, economy, safety etc... . I THINK EVERYONE WHO SUPPORTED THIS WAR IS EQUALLY GUILTY AS BUSH, CHENEY AND BLAIR.
Gee William, you make a perfect mouthpiece for the right-wing thugs in Washington! These cutthroats must be tickled pink to see some ignorant bozo like you taking up for them on this web page!
I hate to say this, but I agree with the jarhead (A 5th Marine)
I too am with the Jar Head. The Iraq incursion was a lame return of money in the treasury to the people, so thought, that rightfully owned it. Those cheated out of it by the Clinton administration's tax policies. Cheney the architect, and George the stooge. Nation building in Iraq is like building sand castles in the surf.
William Starr please stop drinking the right wing cool aid and take your meds. We wasted more than a trillion and it takes about 4 months to spend a trillion on things that are actually productive. It is easy for you to dismiss the deaths of 4000 US soldiers and hundreds of thousands Iraqis for a senseless war started because of lies and distortions of the Bush administration. This war did more to hurt the US by strengthening Iran and damaging the reputation of the US in the worlds eyes. Lies, distortions, torture, imprisonment without trials, civilian murders, destroyed infrastructure etc brought to you by the US government.
Phew. I rarely post in the comment section but, "no effect"? That's one of the most stupid things I've ever read.
Spoken like the fatalist that you are, Mr. Starr. Yours is the world of God and guns and xenophobia. You sound amazingly....13th century! Like, say, a radical Muslim. Hey, there's a thought. Ever thought of converting? I think it would fit your world view very well if you could get over a few minor details.
You are exactly whats wrong with America. Do you even consider Iraqis as human being like you? What is third world ideology?. why dont you get out your bubble of dumbness and realize that in Iraq those mothers, fathers, children and normal people paid the price of DEVILS IN DISGUISE TONY BLAIR AND GEORGE BUSH???...YOUR SUPREMACIST IDEOLOGY IS THE PROBLEM. That war killed a lot of IRAQI PEOPLE who did not ask for it. and the criminals are chilling in TX and Great Britain.
smells like some truth might be lurking around here. not so good a smell when you decide what's making that smell
The cowboy sent fiscalism and national defense, long under ownership of the GOP, down the drain. After all, they were lies anyway.
You don't know what you are talking about, and you can't draw any parallels between Iraq and anything else. It was and is it's own war with it's own situations and challenges, which the Bush administration badly underestimated. It is one big reason why W. Bush is considered the worst president in US history. It also ran up our debt, which Obama was left to deal with.
Oh, how soon we forget in our eagerness to revise history to serve the present-day political narrative. If you're going to hang George Bush over Iraq, then you'd better make room for Bill & Hillary, Madeleine Albright, Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry, Al Gore, and everyone else on the left who had a hand in maintaining the no-fly zones (gee, remember those?), bombing Iraq in 1998, who assured us that Saddam Hussein possessed WMDs, maintained economic sanctions that continually antagonized and damaged those poor, innocent civilians about who you care so much when it's politically convenient, and generally perpetuated our continued involvement there since the early 90s. But then if the left has proved anything by their deafening silence while Obama has kept most of the Evil Tyrant Bush's anti-terrorism policies intact, from the PAtriot Act, Gitmo, all the way down the line, it's that that their oh-so-principled concern was really just a big political charade after all.
The Middle East has been misunderstood and policy/strategy mismanaged by the USA, Russia and Britain for a century. The consequences have been enormous, especially for the people of the region and will continue to be. Anyone (right or left) that would compare WW II to Iraq needs their head examined. Conservatives were not the ownly people to lose their way, Dems, were just as backwards.
There's a risk that Syria would become another Iraq, if ethnic minorities like the ruling Alawites faced the same fate as Iraq's minority: the Sunnis.
What worked in Mandela's South Africa hasn't worked in Iraq, as there are no sectarian shisms – Sunnis vs Shias – in South Africa.
Are you on Cheney's payroll?
The war in Iraq was a complete fiasco from any angle you can look at it. It was based on lies, and the strategic outcome is obviously a disaster. We wasted 2-3 trillion dollars and democracy has not taken root in Mesopotamia. The Iraqi women and minorities lost all their freedoms.
I am appalled that you are dismissing the loss of our 4000 young brothers and sisters who have been killed and untold numbers injured who will not function as normal beings for the rest of their lives.!50 thousand Iraqis dead, their society has been shattered. Invading a country for no apparent reason and causing death and destruction is a crime against humanity. Bush and all the neo-cons who were clamoring for war in Iraq should be brought to justice as war criminals.
So what are the five things learned about this war??? Well, GWB, Dick Cheyney, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell and Condaleeza Rice should all be hanging by the neck in the gallows of the ICC. This was the war crime of the century. Recently at the CPAC, Donald Trump said America should demand that Iraq pay for the war but gee, I cannot recall the Iraqi people ever coming to the United Nations and asking for regime change, nation building or freedom from anything whatsoever. And the last time I checked, I believe the Bush administration went there looking for WMDs and after no WMDs were discovered, they changed their mission to "Enduring Iraqi Freedom." It no wonder why Muslims hate America.
rrock as you should know, it came from the Pentagon budget and so therefore never would have gone for any other purpose anyway. You really ought to know that as an American citizen. So please either educate yourself about this or stop lying, whichever is the case.
But 9/11 is NOT fading. It NEVER will in our lifetimes not should it. EVERY SINGLE DAY is as if it happened only yesterday and it should always be that way. NEVER let this be "just something for kids to learn in a schoolbook."
THR, I am calling you out since you called out Rrock. The pentagon does not have a budget for invasions and war. We have a budget to train and equip, that's it. So you see, those trillions WERE wasted.
It is just wrong to compare communism/fascism to left/right democracy.
This idea that the left supported WW2 because they were against the "right wing" hilter, and were against the cold war because they supported the "lefty" communist soviet union, is just wrong. In actual practice, there is very little difference between communism in fascism. Both have been athiest dictatorships in which the state took control of private industry & press.
Left supported WW2 because Hitler was dedicated to global dominion, and was invading and killing sovereign democratic nations, and they never "opposed" the cold war.
@ WIlliam,
How can you defend such a dismal failure as the Iraq war. The war yielded no dividends for anyone other than then oil companies and the military industrial complex. It left 100,000 Iraqis dead and tens of thousands of Americans dead. It destroyed their country and the premise for entering the country was a COMPLETE LIE. The fact that imbeciles like yourself defend this type of policy shows how brainwashed one can become. Anyone with a hint of critical thinking can see this war was a lie and everyone who want along with it are fools including yourself. Wake up bro
You got that right – We DON'T Care – especially for the BS coming from Washington and from Our 'Great' Leaders ! ! GW couldn't find a plausible 'excuse' to wage war & god forbid he tell the truth that it really was about the OIL and Saddam 'threatening' to take his oil off of the almighty Dollar & put it in Euros!!
Our response to any attacked from any Mid East country nuke them! When you have the big stick using it makes people really back off. No one in the Mid East is worried about the US because they just send troops and make the country richer. There is not an Arab alive that is worth a penny of help from us. They're all a bunch odf despots raiding the US treasury! You get absolutely nothing in return from Arabs.
AMEN,,,,,, lesson number one,,,,, NO MORE BUSH PRESIDENTS! For this country to have gone from peace and prosperity to the mess GWB and his ilk created with their lies and deceit
and sell it to the American public, to the mess the GOP has melded into,,,, did someone put some stupid pills in their water? Hope we have learned something!
Yeah ask the Iraqis how peaceful they felt under Clinton. We were still causing deaths and misery to the Iraqi people. After the Gulf war Iraq was blockaded, and at one point over a half a million children had died. Charity groups were fined if they attempted to bring medication or aid to the Iraqi people, and under Clinton bombs were dropped on Iraq. Bush really screwed things up but it's amazing how Clinton is rarely called out for his role. Guess it's peace as long as your side isn't suffering and dying.
And no more Obama Presidents who lie and divide our country
Not just Bush presidents, but any Republican presidents. They are all the same. Then, they will lie and say that the money that they spent, you spent. LIARS. All of them.
Right. Because the UN is the official, duly-elected governing body of the U.S....
The US is better off without having to look over our shoulders all the time with Saddam around.
Some setbacks as author points out, to be expected.
Otherwise a two thumbs up triumph!
Saddam was ZERO threat to this country. Anybody who says he was is a Pu*ssy. Take your rationalizations and stuff them.
Every real American should be angry at the fraud that was perpetrated against us with the Iraq war. Cheney dropped the ball by letting Bin Laden flee into the mountains of Pakistan and instead created the wmd myth which led to the deaths of 4000 U.S. troops. Shameful.
Fareed
I really like your show but I could not believe my eyes when you invited that loser Wolfowitz for his post-Iraqi opinions. And the guy showed not the slightest bit of contrition for his mad decisions – something like the poodle – Tony Blair.
It was initiated with nothing but lies. Weapons of mass destruction .... Lies, lies......
Tell that to the people who are free to choose their counties path. Tell that to the people who were gassed by the Dictator.. War is never worth it but it has to happen sometimes so people can be free!
There's that magic BS word again – FREE
Yeah 400K is a statistical measure not ACTUAL deaths....but lets take that as truth. 400K was almost ALL Iraqi v Iraqi killing. We were not the cause. It is a dying civilization with it's internal fight with modernity and itself. In the end it was a civil war with itself They hated each other way before there was even a US. You can say we help it get out of control but YOU can't say we caused it and we did eventually helped control it again.
It was the destabilization caused by the war that caused most of those deaths though. Whether that number is higher or lower than it would have been with Saddam still there and the sanctions in place is anybody's guess. Anybody who tells you otherwise is just plain lying.
How the hell US helped the situation in Iraq? You are saying that if a country have problems US can resolve those problem by bombing and killing civilians! How pathetic,people like are the cause of global unrest!
I think if you have problem with your neighbor I have a right to shoot your ass, this is your fu**ing theory!
The lesson should be to not invade other countries and kill the inhabitants. It makes much more sense to develop manufacturing at home than attempt to steal the resources of others. As long as the USA, Inc invades far away lands, and meddles in the business of others, don't bother to ask why most of the world hates America.
You're absolutely right. It is too bad America's electorate has become so dangerously ignorant during
the past several decades.
Fareed, You should be ashamed of having Wolfowicz on your show last week. He, together with Perle, and Aadelson and others should be banned from TV forever. How can the public forget the numerous appearances this trio made on CNN and other shows to promite the war with, out, and out, lies. I'm surprized you forgot them and what they did to propagandize the Iraq war I remember Adelson with his USA neck ties and false appeals to patriotism and Perls's put downs of anybody who questioned him. They were truly discusting. I wish someone would replay their TV lies just so the public would remember what they did.
Oh Baloney! Go smoke your happy smoke. Saddam had all the opportunity in the world to come clean on his chemical and biological weapons. He failed to do so. Bush was right, there has to be a consequence for ignoring UN resolutions, including 987 and 1441. If he had actually come out and said, "look, I have no special weapons, they have all been destroyed and he allowed the UN to verify them without hindrence, then there would have been no invasion and no war. As it stands now, Iraq is a democracy in its infancy. It is still learning how to be a democracy. We've had more than 200 years, and we're still learning.
The Bush Administration will likely go down in history as one of the best of the 21st century.
Surely uyou jest in thinking Bush will ever be anything more than a waste of oxygen. Biush and Cheney and Rumsfeld and Rice and a few others are war criminals akin to Germany in the 1940s. Bush lost nothing in his invasion and if the truth ever comes out more likely profitted as well as Cheney in the process. Sadaam was no threat to the U.S. It was a schoolyard bully scheme from the get-go and Biush referred to it several times as "...Sadaam tried to kill my daddy." I hope they go before the World Court some day and I long for the day when we never see the faces of Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld again.
You poor thing....the "best" in U.S. history you say. Most dyed-in-the-wool Republicans don't even say that. Are you related to Bush?
I would add to that, "had to be consequences *especially after 9/11." Which showed (among other things) that there were people out there who, for REAL, were willing and becoming able to nuke AN ENTIRE U.S. CITY!
Lesson #1 is we have never won a war since WWII and if you are going to start one, win to finish it. As a Vietnam Vet and seen what and how we fought the war ,we never had a chance to win . And we did the same thing in the last two wars . Like ants on a hill going no where.
The war was wrong, but for different reasons. We thought that the Iraqis could govern themselves when out from under a murdering dictator(something the little liberals on this blog seem to forget about). But we learned that the entire country is a disaster area that couldn't govern itself out of a paper bag. If we need to defeat a country then we need to annihilate them, not try to do a regime change.
I'll start with GP since your comment was first. I suppose you had some venting to do. That's ok. Unfortunately, you seem to have released a a type of virus that engendered a series of comments that for the most part had nothing to do with the article. The point of the article was 5 lessons that FZ thinks we should have learned. I was interested in what people thought about the lessons, not in witnessing opinions hissed and spat out. Apparently, others needed to vent also. A set of goggles is appropriate for situations such as this.
After reading about 20 of these comments, I had not the energy to continue searching for one germane to the article's topic. And I lost hope. I need to go pour myself a scotch and water as I now have a headache.
I totally agree. I don;t beleve that America has learned anything from this war. It blundered into Iraq and will blunder into Iran next. Why? Because America does not want to allow Iran to process it's own nuclear fuel. And it is willing to squeeze and cripple the Iranian people without mercy until America get;s it's own way. This is what America has become.
You are totally right, I don't get it why US cant bear to watch other countries develop. The US govt. is always planning to degrade other countries as if they cant bear to see others to bloom and strengthen themselves to protect their sovereignty, I mean is it a crime?
I totally agree. The US has learned absolutely nothing from this war. It blundered into Iraq and is chomping at the bit to blunder into Iran next. And Why? Because Iran wants to hold onto it's internationally recognized right to process it's own nuclear fuel. But the US happily cripples and inflicts massive economic pain on the people of Iran until it get's everything it's own way. Even when there is no evience that Iran is trying to build a bomb....once again we see a country being punished unless it can prove it doesn;t have something. It is impossible to prove you don;t have something. Just as it was impossible for Iraq to prove that it didn;t have weapons of mass destruction.
I know you'd never believe that there's *much* you don't understand. . . .
так я вам и поверил )))
Came here to say what you have eloquently stated. Thank you.
First lesson:- Might is still right; Leaders of powerful nations can still commit war crimes. There is no justice system in the world which is powerful enough to try those CRIMINALS. Adding insult to injury, we found these leaders reappear later into the world stage as peace envoys.
Second:- A weak Satan should never preach and never try to antagonize bigger Satans; A dictator is more vulnerable when he stands against big corporations and their power broker countries and he may end up losing his head.
Third:- Superiority of eternal values; No matter how powerful the dark forces are, at the end, they will find themselves powerless to subdue human dignity and national dignity.
Fourth:- No accurate forecast is possible in history; From 10 dollar petrol prediction to Iran’s influence, history took a different route other than the one predicted by so called experts.
Fifth:-Basic nature of humanity; We witnessed basic goodness of the human nature when people gather around the globe in support of peace. Iraq war once again proved how vigilant one should be to promote harmony in the world.
I believe the USA folks and government is also becoming integrated with the world. America is not such a pioneer or far away land anymore. So maybe or hopefully the Americans are slowly warming to the sence that there is a whole world around them where people can live without the synthetic black goats. And well... still be or feel on the just and fair side.
Wouldn't it be an interesting exercise to assume that everything went according to plan and then ask in whose interest this plan worked. You don't mention the military industrial complex very often do you?
Instead of suggesting Guantanamo bay is bad PR, why not ask what message extrajudicial torture is sending to the friends and enemies of the united states? Whose interest does that serve, hmm?
Your analysis sums up the fact that Iraq war was a failure from beginning to finish. Why does then Jeb Bush thinks history will be kind to his brother? This is the centerpiece of his brother's legacy.
get red of those shiia thugs iran iraq and syrian shiia killers along with hizboallah =terrorists why helping them..attack iran now before it is too late,
I think we should drone your very house in Israel where sitting behind computer seems to be your full time job.
This is why you republicans are considered STUPID.
Um,first of all you have no clue what you are talking about do you? Iraq is not Shia its Sunni. And second.....well I don't need to say anything else except get your facts straight before you open your mouth.
Lets see how you will feel when someone bombard's your ass when you are busy having some s*xy time with your mama!!!
The war did not have to happened. It was promoted and sold to American people by Bush and Cheney and Haliburton. Remember the 60" plasma TV with precision strike, the "Mission Accomplish" banner with Bush in flight suit. Unfortunately the American public was scared to complacency not to protest and stop the war. I felt the US high moral ground was lost at that point. American standing in the world have suffered since and will never recover.
"promoted and sold to American people"
We live in a democracy....they are politicians....they have to sell themselves and their policies to the public. It is basic civic lesson. You remember (probably not) that NATO and Obama sold the intervention Libya because of all the massacre in Bengazi et al? Well it turns out that was not true and guess what? Our leaders probably knew too but it sold well......
Characterizing the American government as by the people is somewhat naive. As we saw during the last election, the government is largely controlled by anonymous money both through PACs and bought politicians.
Actually we live in a Republic, but you know most people say a democracy because that is what "progressives" want to believe. Yes we vote but does the vote really matter, our president is elected by an Electoral College.
we have to do what is right for our country. yes, we probably lost moral high ground but we eliminated a dangerous enemy.
You are saying that US was afraid that a bunch of old fashioned men and women and their innocent children would have invaded US!
I respect those who opposed the war, but not those who today suggest the whole thing was Bush and Cheney's idea. In fact, the problem of what to do about Saddam was studied exhaustively under two Clinton Administrations. Working under National Security Advisor Sandy Berger, the Iraq group's final recommendation was a full scale US led invasion to remove Saddam. This recommendation came before 9/11 and before Bush even took office.
It is true. Bush didn't have to accept and implement the recommendations that emerged from work done under Clinton. But, it is equally true people today don't have to pretend the Iraq war was entirely Bush's idea.
Personally, I believe the Clinton team made a far better case for the invasion than Bush, Cheney or Powell ever did. For one thing, the Clinton case for the invasion made far more sense on the subject of "WMDs" (I.e., remove Saddam before he acquires nuclear capability vs the Bush Administration's stated emphasis on biochem "stockpiles").
That's what *really* bothers me, is this lie/selective amnesia that the Democrats weren't in favor of this at the time. It's a failure to take responsibility and that's dangerous and shows a core that's cowardly all the way to the bone. Obama was "against that" but imo that was for "political reasons." I don't hold that against him, he saw his opportunity and seized it, as an individual, as was his right (and even his responsibility.) But the en masse denial that almost *ALL* of us, regardless of party affiliation at the time, wanted this done and felt it was just – for the RIGHT causes such as ignoring 10 U.N. Resolutions – is very troubling and founded on a lie.
Clinton himself told Bush in his "courtesy letter" to Bush when he left the White House, "The key to stability in the Middle East is regime change in Iraq." After the attacks it became *mandatory* to *try* to cause that stability.
Note: I didn't say "try because of the fact that the odds of success are 100%." I said, TRY.
We tried and perhaps failed but we, as a nation, had the courage at the time to TRY to do what *had* to be done.
I think #1 should be: don't attack countries unjustly.
That's the reason we never have. (With the possible exception, I admit, of Vietnam – but if you think that's logically provable then you literally should take a logic course. One cannot – *cannot* – claim that "the Dulles Domino Theory was false, after all, it never happened," when the steps that were taken were designed to prevent it in the first place.
They didn't plan to fail. They planned to succeed. That success – if it was a success – destroys any chance of logically saying "it wasn't true since it never happened."
Read your history, my friend. We have attacked nations unjustly. Gulf of Tonkin. WMD–both false premises to begin a war. The Domino theory is widely discredited. There were presumptions of alliances between Vietnam and China. Same kind of ignorance, plain thinking and lack of cultural awareness that led to disaster in Iraq as well.
The most important lesson should be HOW NOT TO SPEND A TRILLION DOLLARS of American taxpayers money to please money moguls in a failed democracy. A war with Iran will bring about WW III-absolute insanity ! History seems to repeat itself and it is all about making money, except now we may face TOTAL ANNIHILATION-that is the difference that the warmongers seem to overlook. The greed for profits made them blind to reality.
Sun Tzu, more than 2k years ago wrote if you invade another country in war, get in and destroy what you came to destroy, or take what you came to take, then get the hell out ASAP. Perhaps Tzu should be required reading at West Point. eh?
At best, W will be remembered as reckless in his foreign policy (fiscal policy, too, but that is another long discussion). At worst, a war criminal, for starting a war based on false pretenses.
At least W should Stan trial!!! The prisons are filled with people who committed less crimes than W!! Maybe a 'mock trial'! A drama or film!
Where was the media in this unjust immoral war? They were as complicit as the sitting administration. To often interested in ratings then reporting the facts or asking challenging questions.
Look im not favor of war but take a look in iran and north korea who try to kill us here those crazy goverment who dont like us here in America you tell me where you stand if you are real American,? and if you lets those bad evil guy have those kind of weapon can kill everybody here in us you tell me or you going to destroy thier high powerful weanpon before its to late or you going to let them have them and kill us all here ...you do the math.
finally some reasonableness!
most of the other posters seem to think the world is full of unicorns pooping rainbows.
How about this for a lesson:
1- Dont invade a country with made up reasons.
2- Show humility when 100,000+ ( some reports sat 500,000 + ) Iraqis dead for a made up war..
W. the worst. Fight the gop power. Tax the rich that profited from this war. Jail bush and Cheney.
Don't knock down doors? You're analysis of Patreus and Mosul is wrong. First, How do you think we used money? To bribe the local population to turn in AIF so that we could kick down their doors, or to pay for property that was damaged in operations such as kicking down doors. Second, there isn't just some black or white definition of US operations during that time in any part of Iraq. Half of our operations were Community Engagements where we searched the local populaces homes while asking them there needs, if the local government is doing what they are supposed to do, or if anyone has been harassing them. Third, not showing aggression leads to more US casualties. Insurgents flock to weak points in a nation, and they tested every unit for aggressiveness. How do I know this because unlike you Fareed and Miks, I was in Mosul mixing with the population every day, before your so called civil war (2004) and during the sectarian violence (2005-2007). Once again the media has not a shred of truth about what actually happened on the ground. Just as bad as Donnie Rumsfield getting up in front of everybody and giving progress briefings that were complete lies. Regardless we shouldn't have been there...
Allow me to add one more lesson: KNOWLEDGE MATTERS! In the run-up to the war, a false dichotomy was established among the hotheads supporting the war between those with "moral clarity" and "intellectual elitists." It held that those with knowledge of the situation, the history of the region, and so forth were largely (though not universally) against invading Iraq, but invading Iraq was the morally clear thing to do, so knowledge was the enemy of moral clarity. In the end, these people told us, Iraq would be free, evil would be defeated, and all that pointy-headed intellectual stuff, like that Sunni and Shiite thing, wouldn't matter a bit. The Iraqi people would be so grateful for their liberation and the defeat of evil that they wouldn't give a second thought to all that history and such being talked about in some intellectual ivory tower. Ten years on it looks like Saddam Hussein was every bit as evil as we were told, but most of the predictions made by the "intellectual elitists" have come true. If we'd known more about the Sunni-Shiite spit in the country, and many other aspects of its history and society, we might have either not gone there or might have done a better job. And the lack of respect for knowledge went down to the most basic details. on the first day of training for the new Iraqi police in the mostly Muslim country, guess what was served for lunch? Pork! That was after discovering the hard way that morning that the acronym they'd decided to use for the police force happened to be the F word in Arabic. By the end of that first day many of the recruits had walked out. After 9-11 it was popular to say that the era of the intellectual was over and the era of the hero had begun. The Iraq war proved that you can't have one without the other. On the macro and micro levels, KNOWLEDGE MATTERS!
I'm not sure why everyone thinks the war on terror is so hard to fight. Its actually a fairly simple plan – Go in, educate and take care of the women. The women will raise children that see the promise, the hope and the benefit of a society that takes care of them. Those children will be in charge in the very near future. Whenever a country takes care of the women the society is prosperous and secure. Look at history! The treatment of women is the #1 predictor of the stability of a state/country.
You are so right. I've been thinking the same thing for years. thumbs up
The only problem is that I have Iraqi friends & they told me first hand that Sadam's regiem gave women full rights, free education, and equal opportunities in the government/military, when our "friends" the Saudis won't even let women drive! The same goes for Christians: Sadam let them live in Peace, and now they are a hunted minority. I love your ideals, but women don't fair well in nations we occupy.
That's funny, I have Iraqi friends too, and I also lived there for years and saw nothing of the sort of thing you are talking about. Saddam gave them full voting, and other rights, such as serve in his government? Just because it is on paper and a dictator says that he "gives you the right" doesn't mean it happens there BBLV. And as far a education rates for women in Iraq before and after occupation, they are the same. As far as your Christian comment, all religious sects were hunted and murdered by one another after the fall of Saddam, not just Christians. While during Saddam's reign anyone who did not agree with him was hunted and murdered. If women are not treated well in countries we occupy, then you are saying that women fared better under the Taliban then Karzai?
The best thing the U.S.A can do to minimize the threat of terror is to stop meddling in the affairs of other countries.
Damn right bro! I don't know what is with the US govt. always interfering with other countries affairs !
In restrocpect what we should have done was to give Saddam some real WMD so he could have used those against his arch enemy Iran. What W did was to clear the way for Iran in the middle East at our expense in soldiers killed and maimed, plus the use of our money for that task. What a shame!
Wolfowitz was the leading architect of the Iraq war fraud, which has devastated a county, resulted the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives, and cost the American taxpayers over $1 trillion, and still counting. You were far to easy on this war criminal, and allowed him to control the microphone. He has appeared on your show on several occasions which allows him a venue to gain credibility as a foreign policy authority, which he is not. He is an instrument of the israeli lobby that controlled the Bush II defense department to advance the interests of Israel. Please show us some journalistic guts in the future.
Bill, I agree with all you have said. From what I remember before the war started, Fareed wrote an article in the TIME magazine and he was all for a war in Iraq saying that after Saddam, democracy will flourish there and Iraq will become a beacon for the whole Middle East. How wrong Fareed was. It is ironic that now he is giving us a list of lessons learned from the disaster he was part of. I guess one of the lessons learned should to not take notice of Fareed's comments about the Middle East.
As for Wolfowitch; he is a war criminal and he should be on the same stand as Bush and Company.
i love how its been 10 years and still no one wants to admit the REAL reason the war started. Its a simple as this the American public was furious about the 911 attack and we wanted to kick the crap out of muslims ANY muslims. Remember all those comercials showing all those people wearing turbans saying – I am not a terrorist-? Thats because people had already started to lash out at anyone who they even thought was a muslim. Bush had to do something to focus that rage somewhere else or America would have been torn to pieces by raging mobs attacking anyone wearing a turban or just looking like a middle-easterner. Saddam Hussein was the only one stupid enough to not keep his mouth shut or to at least condem the attack. Even Iran and libiya had the good sense to condem the attacks cavse they knew that all America needed was an exscuse ANY exscuse (WMDs anybody?) to attack a middle-eastern country. Bushs only mistake was to get talked into the whole lets teach them democracy BS by cheney
No, GhengisJohn. The main reason we invaded Iraq in 2003 was the fact that Iraq has 11% of all the oil reserves in the world, making it the third largest oil supplier. Instead of buying it from Saddam Hussein, the Bush crowd found it far more profitable just to take over that country by military force and convert it into another U.S. satellite state like Poland was to Russia after WW2.
This is all a bunch of diversionary tactics used by the pro-war folks, who gave the US public another reason why we had to go into Iraq. I sure would like to know who was behind this miss-information. The US news organizations have done a dis-service to the public by not examining the causes and the interests pushing the US for the invasion of Iraq.
As the facts stand now, 10 years after the start of this war; no Iraqi oil is owned by the US and all of the contacts for the Iraqi oil field developments have gone to China, India, Russia, France and Norway.
Joe get you facts straight.
We haven't taken their oil though. So stop lying.
5 Lessons of a plagiarizer who is also journalist....no credibility, no credibility, no credibility, no credibility, no credibility
Lesson from Iraq: Don't believe everything you hear.
how about get more than one intelligence source? make sure they don't have a vested interest in convincing you to attack.
check the facts before making a decision, rather than making a decision, then picking the facts.
have enough staff to monitor the money being distributed to companies, especially no-bid contracts or overseas people.
"Don’t tear down the state"
. In the first months of the occupation, the United States disbanded the Iraqi military, sanctioned a process of "deBaathification” – the firing of anyone from a government position who was a member of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party
Well this was the Bush Administration and they knew this was needed because their own party had planted so many zealot conservatives, hard-line GOP extremists and nepotistic trolls throughout our US government and corporate leadership they knew that any situation where this entrenchment was this deep the corruption this pervasive as theirs would require significant tearing down before it could be rooted out. Point in case the devolving of the USA into an economic failure and nightmare today all compliments of the entrenched Bush Administration cronys
Was the 2003 Iraqi invasion so urgent, so necessary, so justified that GWB and his administration could not in good conscious avoid starting another war in that region – in the middle of the hunt for Osama Bin Laden and a war raging in Afghanistan no less – that it could not wait and absolutely had to happen, say, like the 1943 D-Day invasion? Indeed, history will not be kind to the Iraq War, GWB, and his war mongering puppeteers.
Lessons from Iraq
That half of this country do not support the military, and liberals like in 74 treat veterans like dirt.
Please do not lump all liberals together. I am sure you would not appreciate a liberal, like me, saying something like, "All conservatives believe everything the Saudi & Aussie editors at Fox News tell them without question!" Anytime you talk about half the nation, you have a wide variety of people. I am a liberal because I am a veteran. I appreciate Harry Reed & Barrak Obama building a new VA Hospital in Las Vegas, reinstating many lost VA benefits, etc. Does that mean I support them without question? No. I have my own mind, and so should every American!
Tea Party Patriots typically like to get all their bagging and birthing done by Friday. This leaves the weekend free to watch nascar , have incestuous relations with their sisters or cousins and then maybe even brush their tooth.
Looks like to me the left is extrapolating their lifestyle to the the right. I have yet to meet a liberal with any common sense or even reasonable intelligence.
As a long-time fan of your Sunday program I was disappointed in your segments with Paul Wolfowitz. I was born in 1944 and of the same generational cohort. Wolfowitz was given a short opportunity to talk around the critical events leading up to the invasion of Iraq.
After 9/11 when the issue changed from bin Laden and Afghanistan to Iraq, I was left dumbfounded. The pretext of Sadam’s threat was not credible except to the most credulous of the population. It was the back story to the invasion that was neglected made it appear that, in hindsight, it was an unfortunate error of 4000 lives and a trillion dollars.
In my humble opinion (and that of many others), the genesis of this shameful episode of American history must be laid at the feet of the neoconservative movement beginning with the influence of Leo Strauss, Wholstetter, and later, Wolfowitz and Perle.
Popularly called neocons, their influence could be compared to the mycelium from which mushrooms occaisionally appear (viz. Haig’s defeat in favor of Shultz, who subsequently promoted Wolfowitz). Later, under Rumsfeld (2001-5) the belligerent Bush Doctrine of preemption was developed.
I’m not going to pursue this line further lest I exceed my 30-min limit. However, I think that in fairness to history your should devote a special to the pernicious neocon movement, which presupposes that some “enlightened” few are justified in dissembling to the electorate regarding a future that only the ‘elect’are able to appreciate because of their prescient vision.
It is more than that, it's people not questioning the Neo-Cons. More than that, it was our media not questioning the White-House.
We did have a run of losers on both parties. Carter the Coward, Clinton who tossed two missles after notifying the bad guys they were coming, Bush for accepting the intelligence community input who were put in position by Clinton, and the present guy. However, under O's time the military did get The Big O, which is a good thing. The best thing to do is since the congress has the lowest ratings in history, don't return any of them to office.
So, in other words, Bush and company have zero culpability in creating and engineering this war. It is incredible to what levels people will go to try and distract from who really started this war. You put Bush in the position of a child who was pulled by his nose. The reality is, Bush was president of the United states and commander in chief. He is the one ultimately responsible for guiding us to war (not faulty intelligence or any other excuse you can come up with).
What an idiot you are Waleed75! Democratic watch is when atomic bombs were used. Are you saying that we should have Nuked then as soon as Obama took over and made Al Sharpton and Marion Barry his military advisors?
If we had learned our lessons in Vietnam, we would never have gotten involved in Afghanistan.
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NO LESSON LEARNED : Politicians and their handlers have neither Common Sense, nor Memory : Just Greed ! ! !
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Looking back is relative easy but when the answer to the question what did we do right is nothing that should be the biggest lesson.
Lessons learned , Bankers , Wall st. Cheney , Bush are above the law that has been proven fact to all Americans by this current Obama administration .
pleasse slim jim..."bankers"...lol..americagot no oil....none...thats cuz they put it all for the iraqis to put out to tender...and america got like the last contract and a pittance...you really have no clue...
as for obama??? the man is just a sliiiick politician...totally not transparent...talk about enacting more power, grabbing more unilateral presidential authority...can u say drones killing any americans he wants? can you say cyber spying increasing like crazy under obama? if it was bush doing half the things obama is, the left would be apoplectic!
Halliburton ring a bell , and the bankers,go to Iraq need a Visa or Master Card .
Even the iraqis wanted to americans to come in...they cheered...I remember well how they cheered...then, like true arabs, they said, thank you for taking care of this bloodthirsty dictator, now get out and let us choose our own strongman...only the "pretext" was wrong for this war...wmd's....it was an excuse to get around a UN that was pathetic, blocking for the arab butcher...in fact, iraq under saddam HAD used wmd's...at halabja..did no one care about that? no? cnn? nytimes? what about over 17 UN resolutions violations? or are they meaningless???? what about butchering and ethnically cleansing his own people? no? still not enough? what about kuwait? saudi? threat to world energy? not enough?
the FACT is, going in post 9/11 was FULLY justified...the gloves were off...it didnt matter that saddam had nothing to do with bin laden, what mattered was that a new page had been turned in terms of foreign policy and the muslim world that was threatening the US....does no one remember saddam had a nuclear program in 1981 that the israelis had to blow up? the world told israel, dont, it will be a disaster...and then, once israel did it and did it well, the whole world wasfull of praise...and yes, it was KNOWN that saddam was hiring ex soviet nuke for hire scientists in effort to reconsitute his program...so to all of you hindsighters, (liberal appeasers)....while iraq was not well prosecuted AFTER they intially did things well, it was still the right thing to do....iran should have been next...de-bathification should never have been used..gutting the army and command structure was stupid...and yes, bush's people didnt understand the culture and associated nuances necessary to really produce a better outcome...
sidebar- why do you think qaddafi gave up his nukes? because the US went into iraq.... the right move would have been to work with the iraqi army to hem in iran and take down the mullahs ....but nooooo, so now we have to deal with an imminently nuclear iran...and now the appeasers are out in force using the mistakes in iraq to make more mistakes on iran....leaving iran to go nuclear is a huge mistake.....just because iraq was poorly conducted for the first 4 yrs, doesnt mean we should turn our back from the nuclear program in iran now. It will be to obama's great shame and horrible legacy is he leaves all with a nuclear iran.
going into iraq was the right move...only the pretext was wrong and you can blame the UN for that...and kofi annan's son who was backdooring oil for food sanctions and letting saddam re-arm....
slowdown, the war is over the criminals got away.
You are correct, but as I'm sure you realize this war being "started" by the "other side" (GOP) is why liberals despise it. Had Obama done the same thing, the left would have celebrated the move as "leadership" and denounced the neocons as "racist" for opposing it.
Yeah because liberals will always do the same as conservatives because both parties believes in the same issue. /sarcasm
Correct 101%
As a Viet-Nam Veteran it appeared to me that we learned nothing from Viet-Nam. We rushed into a country with guns blazing, attempting to shove "democracy" down the throats of people that have never even heard the word. Peace-time Generals drooling over a chance to "make their bones" and show their stuff. With absolutely no knowledge of the culture except what some State Dept. wonk learned from his lap-top on his way over to the Green Zone. Expecting a guerrilla-type organization of religious fanatics to march onto the battlefield and "engage" face to face. The similarities go on and on. I fought in the jungle. The latest crop of damaged young men fought in the cities, the only difference. The results are the same. Reap the whirlwind.
Buffalo first of all I have to ask is that a remark to the 17th infantry and secondly isn't it funny how the US pushes a democracy but really we are a republic
America has always been and always will be full of sadistic brutish bullies who enjoy war and killing. This will never change.
Happy St. Patrick's day!
Probably #1 is that when you start a war for the wrong reasons, you will not have the resources or the stomach to start one when the right reasons come along. Hussein was never at the top in the 10-worst list that comes out every year, and now there's very little we can do about North Korea or Iran. W. left this country so broke and so weak that were we any country but the U.S., right now he and Cheney would be dead.
The biggest lesson that we have learned is that it is easier to deal with a stable enemy than an unstable ally. Bombing cities and intelligence headquarters is cheaper and more effective than installing a new government. If we had known that there were no WMDs, we would not have come knocking on Saddam's door.
The number one lesson to be learned is that tribal societies which have groups who have hated one another for centuries, but are more or less held in check by a dictator, are lousy candidates for liberation. In this case, the tribal groups are the Sunnis and the Shiites and the dictator was Saddam. Take away the heavy hand at the top and you've got a civil war on your hands.
What's astonishing is that Bush's foreign policy team was so ignorant of history, they didn't see it coming. Case in point, the Bosnians and the Serbs had been at each others throats for more generations than anybody can count, but they were held in check by the iron fist of the Soviet Union. When the Soviet Union collapsed, these groups went right back to slitting one another's throats.
Yet, ignoramuses like Donald Rumsfeld predicted that we would be welcomed as liberators in Iraq and these tribes would all make nice.
"Christians have fled the new democratic Iraq"... .
True, they flee, like never before... But aren't you ashamed to use the phrase - new democratic"(?) Iraq? How democratic, when people there live in fear?... when our own new Embassy lives in fear, and looks like a fortress at war?... We live in fear in our Embassy...They live in fear all the time: they suffer from all four the fears mentioned in FDR's Four Freedoms speech. Stop speaking of democracy in Iraq Mr Zakaria!
Mr. Zakaria proves once again that he is one of the most overrated pundits in the media. Bring enough troops? I suggest he read Robert Gates who, to paraphrase, said that anyone who fights a full-scale war in the Middle East is out of their mind. Mr. Zakaria's other "lessons" are so naive as to flunk an undergraduate military history course.
Dick Cheney and Bush, turned the United States into a weapon of mass human destruction and walked away laughing and dining with the 1% .
No Mr. Mcarthy all that about oil came about after we had crushed Iraqs army and had captured Saddam. That was Cheney and the rest getting greedy and duping ole GW with honeyed words about all the oil they could scam. It began because of the pure rage America had about the attacks. Everyone always wants to paint this grand picture of how -evolved- we are but we aint that evolved no matter how much we want to believe we are. Truth is just about every war i can think of besides Korea and Vietnam that America has gone into was caused by rage. Remember the alamo, the burning of washington, the sinking of Lusitania, pearl harbor and those are just off the top of my head. Lets face it its what we do and we do it well. I just wish we would admit it to ourselves that after the rage is spent THATS when the greedy decide to exploit the situation and muck it all up and cause all the death and maiming to American soldiers.
Lesson #1 – don't concoct bogus wars based on lies
Lesson #2 – Jail Govt officials who lie to the public
Lesson #3 – never underestimate the gullibility of flagwaving hillbillies who just wanna kill something
My question is why hasn't anyone from the Bush administration been tried for misrepresenting WMDs? As an American citizen, I see how many lives have been shattered by this blatant lie. Why hasn't anyone been brought to justice?
They should be tried for crimes against humanity. All the inner circle. They are all criminals. They all got to walk away. Unbelievable. Steal a loaf of bread and you go to jail. Cause the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and spend your country's vast treasure causing a terrible recession and you get to go on the lecture circuit raking in more money. Life is cruel.
Very beautiful well written article. Good job Zakaria!!!
Fareed Zakaria, you "5 lessons" makes nosence. The war was wrong at beginning so the lessons are meaningless. The families of those lost lives or injured should sue W. Bush And That "Dick"
Remember that at the time we were still angry about 9/11. It was heartbreaking to watch our fellow americans horribly murdered. It resulted in some people like me joining the military and congress voting overwhelmingly for the invasion. Afghanistan was yielding little at the time and we were looking for a target to vent our frustrations. Yes we were fed bad info but I recall strong support for the invasion at the time. How can you blame congress and Americans for thinking of the innocent lives lost? Instead of placing blame I think we should talk about what we will do in the future if we're attacked again. It is not easy to turn the other cheek but perhaps revenge is something we should never seek again.
Prime Example of our failing educational system
The congress and most of American people were fooled by wrong imfor.provided by Cheny. Country lost, he got billions of many. If you lost your life how did your family would think about this war and people who gave us he imfor. intentionly fabricated.
Is it fair that the punishment of evil doing of few people should be given to a whole nation?
And 911 was an inside job of US, the US govt. just needed a reason to invade Iraq
William , that is the most delusional babbling i have heard in a long time.
Lesson: don't fight wars on behalf of Israel.
Wolfowitz, Perl, Cheney and Rumsfeld constructed a lie about weapons of mass destruction and then, with the cooperation of the media (both left and right) to link Iraq to 9-11, another 'lie'. They then committed the double sin of losing the war and indebting our nation far into the future. Obama and the Republicans now are trying to get that war behind us in order to move on politically and enable future interventions.
Who benefits? Iran and Al Queda.
Who loses? The people of Iraq and the United States.
Who cares? Almost no-one.
Can you explain me how Iran is benefiting from this blood pool?
Real Lesson – we didn't LEARN ANY!
We'll be doing this again very soon... drones et al
Lessons on Iraq
God was right about Babylon
I think this article misses the most critical point. The U.S. military, while tactically very effective, has no strategic leadership, either from outside, in Washington, or inside, in their general staff. You can be the most horrific screw up in the top levels of the US military, and you are never relieved anymore–you just get transferred out to some other post to wait out your time until pension. Iraq lacked any strategic plan, and if anything, handed Iran regional supremacy. GW Bush was such a screw up.
"success" in Iraq is a tough call. We do know now that we attacked Iraq purely for the land, not because they were a threat to us. But Saddam was a brutal dictator who abused his citizens (but that was of a low to no priority to us).
WEBGOT RIDOFF Saddam with the prices of 4000 young American lifes and ten of thousands of injured and hundreds of thousands IRAQI LIFES tRILLIONS OF oUR TAX MONEY.
Lesson Number One: Don't Go Into Wars of Choice!!! And in this case we abandoned the main missions of why the military was sent into that region, with cheers from the masses as the drum beat louder and louder!!!!!
Iraq War 10-Year Anniversary: 19 March – Done 'In Our Names'!!
After abandoning the main missions, and world help, for why we even sent the military into that region!!
“We are dealing with veterans, not procedures—with their problems, not ours.” —General Omar Bradley, First Administrator of the Veterans Administration
"If military action is worth our troops’ blood, it should be worth our treasure, too — not just in the abstract, but in the form of a specific ante by every American." -Andrew Rosenthal 10 Feb. 2013
"You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today." – Abraham Lincoln
No Revenues = Still No Sacrifice = That's Called 'Support' For The Troops = DeJa-Vu all over again!!
Neither war nor especially the results of, decades to come added to previous decades and wars of, have been paid for as the abandoned, and now forgotten, continues as those sent want in a drawdown to accomplish at least a very small portion of those main missions sent to accomplish!!
USN All Shore '67-'71 GMG3 Vietnam In Country '70-'71
crimes against humanity, in OUR name, on OUR dime, and with OUR blood:
O bom ber and his neo-lib massas, aka US Government, Seek to Dictate Global Rules for Drone Warfare
Despite mounting criticisms against controversial targeted killing program, obo mber, in the name of USA, seeks to dictate how others should operate
- Lauren McCauley, Common Dreams, March 17, 2013
I laugh at all the people here who talk about how we shouldn't have gone in in the first place. Do you really think another dictator in the world would have made us better off? I hear all this talk about providing a check on Iran, when the reality would have been an India/Pakistan-style arms race, only in this case with TWO anti-American madmen trying to develop nukes.
What unit did you serve in Matthew?
Me, I can't believe the "revisionist history" that's gone on. Most Democrats were in favor of the war at the time, *no one* claimed it had anything to do (*directly*) with 9/11, and very few were concerned with whether or not he had chemical weapons in terms of it being a reason for doing this. It was *a* reason, not THE reason.
And I'm a Democrat, which I think speaks to just how much "brainwashing" has gone on from the media.
People are losing the ability to think independently. The geopolitical necessity for doing this is unspeakably obvious and simple. This is not an exercise in differential equations. Sit down, ignore what you've all been told, and *try* to think this through INDEPENDENTLY. And LOGICALLY, not emotionally. The conclusion really is inescapable.
The real issue is why haven't the lessons learned supposedly in Iraq been appied to the discussion about Afghanistan. Oops. Sorry, there is no discussion or reporting. Afghanistan is the unreported war thast el presidente wants us all to ignore or forget.
Why hasn't the media brought afghanistan into the debate about what have we learned from Iraq? One more elemebnt of proof that the media is either imcompetent or perfectlyu happy to cover for Obama's mistakes in Afghanistan.
But they have. In spades. The *mainstream* media. Often and frequently. You just simply haven't seen it.
Most Americans now realize that invading Iraq was a stupid and costly mistake. Cheney and Rumsfeld fabricated a case for justifying the invasion and then sold it to the public and the Congress. Anybody who questioned the premise for the war was ignored and punished if Cheny and Rumsfeld could get to them. Once we invaded, we failed to commit the resources and apply the policies needed to to replace the government we destroyed. Consequently, we created a mess that has taken more than ten years to fix. Economists have estimated the ultimate cost of the war will exceed $3 trillion adding to our mounting debt. The war also served to strengthen Iran's position in the region which has and will continue to pose a far greater threat to our national interests than Iraq did. Was Hussein a horrible dictator who terrorized his people – yes he was – but we can't afford to use our military forces to dispose every bad dictator. We need to allocate our precious humand and financial resources to dealing with true threats to our national security, not fabricated ones.
Lesson, Never go to war without Declaring a Full our War in Congress
Without 9-11 Bush would never have gotten his wars. So it is realistic to think that either Bush allowed it to happen or his people were behind it. I choose the latter. I think 9-11 was a Cheney affair. In any case Bush and Cheney and others should be in jail. The suddering and death and maiming they have caused. And they tore apart Iraq and it still is a mess.
And yet you state no real evidence for this claim. Which, of course, renders it meaningless. It's 100% without substance.
We have not learned a damn thing – what we should have learned was to keep politicians from making decisions in the war theater. Let the military do their job!
The other thing we should have learned is to point fingers afterwards.. war is war.. it sucks and people die. So let us get it over with quickly and decisively! Let the military do their job!
Here's a 6th lesson: People who were for the war when it began will later claim they were always against it.
Funny that you should write this on the very day of the 25th anniversary of the Halabja gas attack.
6th Lesson. Don't ever bring young people to a conflict they cannot ever win. We should have never, ever gone there in the first place.
Uhm, in case you haven't noticed, we *did* win.
Hello guys. please search for " 7 countries in 5 years" on YouTube your jaws will collectively drop. God bless you guys.
Lesson 1. War is profitable for the M-I C.
Lesson 2. War is profitable for the M-I C.
Lesson 3. War is profitable for the M-I C.
Lesson 4. War is profitable for the M-I C.
Lesson 5. War is profitable for the M-I C.
Lesson 6. War is profitable for the M-I C.
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Did I mention that war is profitable for the M-I C ? ?
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Volunteers who fight inappropriate, immoral and/or illegal wars bear a considerable measure of the RESPONSIBILITY for the awesome damages so produced on BOTH sides of the conflict. . The conscriptee does not bear anything like this responsibility. .
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Let's hear about it from some volunteers . . . .
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That is NOT to say that we should not properly care for them when (and IF) they return.
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You may think the war profitable .But why are we 16 trillion dollars in the hole ?
We the taxpayers are in the hole, the corporations producing arms are doing just fine, thank you very much
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abdc - Are you serious ? ?
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I did NOT say that war is profitable to the NATION : War is profitable to the M-I C - THAT is where a good part of the trillions went. . The wealth of many of new wealthy around us is deeply covered in blood, both foreign and domestic ! !
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Of the last four Presidents, two acted within the War Powers Act while not acknowledging its applicability (Bush and Bush) and to violated the Act (Clinton and Obama).
Lessons ??? hahahah No lessons learned here , Iraq and Afghanistan wars are , were and will be only war games from Politicians-Owner factories- Military with their own selfish interests and huge Media support to play the movie called : "BIG FISH EAT SMALL FISH" invading poor countries , killing innocent people and imposing puppet governments to extend their presence and consolidate power over the time. Iraq was invaded based on LIES FROM BUSH , POWELL , RICE, etc they LIED TO THE CONGRESS AND THE PUBLIC TO APPROVE THE WAR.
Big time and Big money for immunized contractors-kill-people and nobody will kick their a.. ses .
Lessons ??? Fareed you are on the CIA payroll and promoted these wars also MTF.
It’s been more than six years since a bomb ripped away the eyes from Shams Karim, killed her mother and left the little girl, now seven, blind and disfigured for life. Psychiatric drugs help control her outbursts of crying and screaming...
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/world/ten-years-on-iraq-still-grapples-with-wars-legacy/article4519299.ece
Lesson #1 – next time use drones to kill anyone we please with impunity – not need for 'wars'
What lessons have we learned?!?!?!?!?! Well, when you have a president and vice president and their entire cabinet made up of oil executives, we learned that a vice president made a fortune off of Halliburton stocks as well as Bush and his cabinet company off of oil dividends as well as the military related companies who paid millions of dollars to get these 2 guys elected. We also learned that 5,000 of our best would die from these needless wars and that our country would be crippled by spending $2.5 BILLION every single week for 10 years on these endless wars.
If you haven't learned what the Military Industrial Complex is by now, it's because you have your head in your toilet....
BD
Anyone remember the Halabja gas attack? Anyone at all? 25 years ago yesterday, in fact. More than 5,000 men, women and children killed.
Wonder why you didn't write a story about that, CNN?
You mean the gas that the US sold Saddam to use indiscrimantly on Iranians and he used it on Kurds? And the gas attack that we all of a sudden cared so much about, so people like you can justify attacking & killing our former friend & ally for using wepaons we sold him? You're a hypocrit and liar.
Because Obama's numbers are down, so they have to get the attention off of him quick!
If you browse through the comments you'll see that from a "secular" point-of-view, at least, I'm very much "in favor of the war," but this by itself is for me not a valid argument at all. PLENTY of dictators do bad stuff to their people. Saddam was one of the many using brutality and murder of innocents as a terror tactic at that time.
No, the real lesson for the American People is pay the hell attention. The Bush administration lied to us. There were no WMD's. Iraq was not part of the 9/11 attacks on America. We went there for no reason. The lies they told us cost the lives of nearly 5000 American Soldiers, and over nearly 32,000 injured and almost a TRILLION dollars. And none of it needed to happen. They lied to us, and we wasted lives and time and money in Iraq when we should have focused only on Afghanistan.
Right on Mr Edwards! America needs to wake up today. There are many politicians in DC who would love to invade Iran, if we continue to elect these buffoons they will get us there.
Its obvious this writer believes everything he writes. Two glaring flaws with his research.
1. The writer does not fully understand the phases of war. What Odierno did during his tenure as a division commander was consistent with Phase II operations. The AO Odierno was involved with had a different socio-political structure than the northern territory, where Petreus was in charge. This made the war more complex at that time. The north was muc more passive while central, westen and southern Iraq were not so passive. If we had gone into "the Surge" earlier than we did, it could have cost more lives. Going in and prforming the operations we did in "the surge" would have left us more vulnerable, with fewer troops, and not allowed stability at any level. We would have been in Iraq and merely said, "we're here".
2. THE IDEA OF "the Surge" was not Petreus' idea, it was Odierno's. Probably because of his previous experiences. Petreus just happened to be the MNC-I comander at the time and was able to implement the plan on a national scale.
I was there, involved in the fighting and fully aware of what was going on, from before the surge until OND.
Uhm, have you been paying attention?? There's a *lot* that this guy doesn't understand. lol.
It blows my *mind* that he has a Ph.D. :/
Ohhhhhh?????
The list didn't include "Don't invade the wrong country for the wrong reasons?"
I didn't think CNN would be the one to kowtow to the rightwingnuts.
The biggest lesson learned from Iraq is for the American people to wake up the next time a President and his administration try to mis-lead us into a war we don't need to fight. Bush & Cheney and many other politicians ought to be held accountable for what they did but it will never happen. However, we the American people were held accountable for this great tragedy with trillions of $$ to pay for this un-needed war, thousands of people dead, many more thousands maimed and injured all for nothing. So they removed Saddam the evil one, is anyone planning a friendly visit to Iraq in the near future, now that he is gone?
They haven't learned shiiiite. The drums of war grow louder each day for Iran.
NOTHING has been learned from history. Americans were horrified on September 11, 2001 but there were not
outraged, they didn't even demand answers for the attack. They simply accepted what was given to them as fact.
The American electorate in its present form is incapable of securing the nation in the 21st Century.
Stop invading other nation.
Fareed Z. supported this war whole heartedly ten years ago just like any other Bush – Cheney supporter in the country. People like him must not be forgiven by any Iraqi Sunnis or any Sunnis at large because his current news article on Iraq War is nothing but crocodile tears at best.
1st, You socialist need to dial down your garbage comments. OBAMA is the worst president in history. Easy.
2nd- the article is written by a man who does not state the facts but highlights them to his own desires.
3rd- Saddan's attempted assination of Bush sr. was an act of war under the Clinton admin. Bush had 18 reasons to do
4th- everyone believed he had WMD's. stop trying to re write history. Still reports that WMD's trasferred to Syria
5th- Petagon plan not bush plan to invade.
6th- You people are acting like saddam was a great guy that we just took out becuase he said bad words. He killed 100,000's of his own citizens, started wars, proxy fights in Isreal thru bombings he paid for.
7th- Dems burying country in debt , nothing to do with war, Iraq, or Iran. Pelosi, reid, obama no budget in 4 years is illegal. Idiots but we dont have a spending problem. What morons
Lesson No. 6 – don't accept fake WMD intel from Ariel Sharon's office, funneled to the Israel Lobby's Doug Feith in the Pentagon Office of Special Plans. "The Iraq War was conceived by 25 neocon intellectuals, most of them Jewish" (Israeli newspaper Haaretz, April 2003). I mean who else wants to keep the US mired in the Middle East? So the next time you hear scary stories about Iran, remind yourself that the Israel Lobby has killed far more Americans than Al Qaeda.
There is really only one true lesson to be learned from the Iraq war: when they convince themselves that their political and economic interests are at stake, as with both George Bush and Tony Blair, they will lie and continue to repeat those lies, even though, as with Iraq, they are fully aware that they will sacrifice tens or even hundreds of thousands of lives, and squander billions of their nation's wealth.
Forget those 5. You need only one.
Every life in that country is not worth a scratch on an American soldier.
Several people in the 'W' White House should be tried as War Criminals.
little is said about the worst idea of all....nation building! The first mistake lead to all the others. 'Bring plenty of troops' is close but off the flight path of a correct plan of attack ( in my opinion) : bring plenty of planes and bombs! Saddam kicked out the weapon inspectors during the Clinton era, an act which violated the agreement to end the first Gulf War! Punishment please....Saddam asks for it...give him and the Iraqis some reality.....2000lbs per dose......you don't need to 'tear down' Saddam's statue in the square....vaporize it from the safe skies above. There was some talk above about acceptable loses in war because some troops might have been killed in an auto accident in USA anyway (mentality)......this kind of thinking is for the accountants and bean counters, but no military officer should ever accept loses without losing sleep (nightmares) to do so, Part of the problem is the "civilian thinking" into how to fight a war and not realize the costs of their decisions, except for the "gains" for their corporate buddies (war is money for some). The first lesson to be learned from the wars....is have a social, political and economic plan....an a historic idea kind of plan if it entails boots on the ground. A smart move would be to always use your "smart bombs" to kill, injury and destroy the will to fight in your enemy way before troops are introduced if ever. In my opinion, smart bombs (bombs in general too) are the key advantage as was introducing airplanes into warfare....odd how the extension of one miracle has not lead to maximize the advantages to our next level of air power warfare.
VERY well said. Nation building is a totally futile delusional undertaking.... certain to fail where the culture is so different. Iraq and Afghanistan but 2 examples. The other, to add weight to the evidence. Post WWII Germany. They had to put it mildly a homicidal nervous breakdown, but after shock therapy, there was a sophisticated humanistic culture to be restored.
The only rational reason to continue these wars as long as we did, besides saving face is corporate profits. The saddest part...my fear... is that we will not learn any more from these fiascos than we did from Vietnam.
Fareed was so pro Bush during the war that I wasn't sure if he was working for white house or for media company. I still remember reading his article about why US should continue the war during the Ramadhan month. This knowing very well that civilians were bearing the burnt of this war.
yes lesson 1- raping abeer 13 years old child killing her family and then killed her and burned them...
kill women and children in falloja and more than 100 ,000 with chimacal wepaon by usa army..... third giving iraq to iran on silver platter...4-destroying the infrastructure so they can rebuild it and sale materail, 5- destroy the weapons and then sale more to them FK IDIOTS
Everyone should look at the situation prior to 9/11 with Iraq. Saddam was making the UN feel pressured to drop the sanctions, as he was not hurt by them at all, while his people were starving (500,000 children dead, according to UNICEF). This could hardly continue. Even without 9/11 and possible WMD, it is likely we would have been drawn into war with Saddam, a man who had invaded almost every one of his neighbors. We also were spending a huge amount of money and effort enforcing no-fly zones. I'm sure Rumsfeld and Cheney thought this would a quick and easy sideshow to clear up, then move on to the more pressing War on Terror.
Leave the Islamic world alone. You Americans really think a bunch of rag tags will take your freedoms away. Give me a break for Christ sake.
More advice from CNN's resident Al Queda lover. The real lesson to be learned. If we go to war with a muslim country... don't send in troops. Send in nukes and kill them all. The world will be a better place.
More BS Revisionist history from the Left.
Over 4,000 Americans and well over 100,000 Iraqs dead. Why? What for? Who's responsible? Bush was pushed by Cheney and Rumsfield who both must have gone nuts…especially Cheney. Back in Iraq War 1 Cheney was the one who said it would be wrong to take out Saddam since the US should not nation build. Fast forward 10 years and he flips 180 degrees. But also blame Congress and the Press, including, especially, CNN. The Press and Congress rolled over for Bush. The so-called liberal CNN press was so worried about being considered too liberal or not patriotic that they never dug deeply into what was going on. Bush was too stupid, Cheney/Rumsfield nuts, but Congress and the Press were cowards except for the few who stood against the war…like Oabama.
At first I had supported the war. But now, after what I have learned, I was wrong. What I have learned is that Islamic based societies cannot be successful democracies and certainly not republics. For successful democracy to exist it must embrace freedom of conscience – freedom of religion. Islam openly oppresses both.
It's sad that Obama sucks so bad that people still have to attack Bush to try to make Obama look better. And it isn't working...
For you liberals with no knowledge, CONGRESS approved the Iraq war, one of the main reasons being Iraq's NON-COMPLIANCE with the 1991 Cease Fire Treaty. Please EDUCATE yourselves....
Islam puts a sword to your throat and says – “believe or die!” Christianity offers a free gift through reason and says – “believe and live!” Which of these thought cultures is more likely to be a pillar of democracy?
Geoffrey.. you are right on my friend. it s a complete waste of time, money and most of all Lives of our young men.Democracies,womens rights,will never happen in those countries. lets get the hell out and never return.
Don't drag Islam into this, Islam is a religion of peace, Islam gives the women rights at the maximum level, Islam ensures the security of the women at a level no other religion can. Its the bad luck of Muslims that due to some buffoons our image is damaged. Get your facts straight then talk!
Lessons learned – Trying to get Middle East Muslims to act like humans is impossible – Next time use Nukes!
At first I had supported the war. But now, after what I have learned, I was wrong. What I have learned is that Islamic based societies cannot be successful democracies and certainly not republics. For successful democracy to exist it must embrace freedom of conscience – freedom of religion. Islam openly oppresses both.
Islam puts a sword to your throat and says – “believe or die!” Christianity offers a free gift through reason and says – “believe and live!” Which of these thought cultures is more likely to be a pillar of democracy?
Taught, not learned. Read about Alexander the great – read history. Old, old lessons. Our government in general has the political savvy of a four year old – see the Bush's and Iraq. "Those who cannot remember history are doomed to repeat it".
This Nelson Mandela leadership is amazing. Lot of countries can learn a thing or two from his leadership. Iraq, Pakistan, Bangladesh are just few examples. Sharing at least reasonable amount of power in politics is critical. Otherwise you have to swim in heavy bloodshed.
I got three lessons of my own: 1. Let's not get involved on a large scale (such as Iraq) in conflicts in nations whose culture, religion, customs, etc. we know nothing about as was the case when Bush got us in, in spite the begging of Europeans who were making that very point. 2. Never get into conflict in a nation that does not represent a direct threat to the US. 3. Reduce the military budget by half. It will behooves our leaders to be far more selective in their target and make into easier to fulfill point 1 &2.
I like Ike... the prophet who warned us about the military industrial complex.
We knew a great DEAL about Iraq culture, etc., it's just that George Part II refused to listen to anyone except Daddy's friends.
Global economic collapse reason war.
Many innocence USA and allied force NATO troops killed all international crowns.
Present economic crisis.
Illegal war.
JUSTICE IS IN PERIL .SAVIOUR OF INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE ALONE CAN PROTECT HUMANITY
Kindly please open the link which is below M.S.MOHAMED ANSARI
http://costofwar.com/
http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/war.casualties/index.html
http://usparliament.org/globaleconomicsdivision.php
http://openlibrary.org/authors/OL3647712A/World_Media_Association
Economic save only 6 point. Peace, prayer, liberty, unity, friendly, and simplicity
Lesson #6 – Have a compentent Commander-in-Chief. Preferably one who doesn't hand everything over to Daddy's friends.
The revisionist history that's gone on is really sad. Here's what really happened as I see it: 1.) On 9/11/2001, our country was attacked. Everyone knows that this had nothing to do *directly* with Iraq. 2.) However, as everyone at that time perceived – Democrat and Republican – due to what 9/11 indicated – for example, al Qaeda's willingness (and eventual ability) to nuke an ENTIRE U.S. city, killing MILLIONS, the situation in the Middle East had to be stabilized. One way of doing that which *might* work was to remove Saddam Hussein from power, especially considering on top of that the fact that he was in violation of 10 out of 10 Resolutions he had agreed to in order to end the first Gulf War. (Or as I view it – the first half of one war.) 3.) Unfortunately, we had (I feel) an incompetent Commander-in-Chief who picked people to run it due to cronyism. which led to 4.) Among other things, Sergio Vierra de Mello was killed due to inadequate security and a lack of proper equipment to rescue him. That and other preventable factors led to 5) a civil war between the Shi'ia and Sunni, who were well-armed and hated each other. (NBC did a study which concluded that it met *all* the criteria for being called a civil war.) The bombing of the Golden Mosque was, of course, the immediate trigger for that war. The civil war and mismanagement of the war and failure to use diplomacy effectively of course led to 6) the war taking so long and going so badly.
That, of course, is a *completely separate* thing from whether or not it was the right thing to do.
Check out the photo in the other article of the Situation Room under George Bush. Obama was appalled when he took office and found out about this. And rightly-so in my opinion. There's not even a *laptop* in that photo. No useful equipment – 100% diagnostic of incompetence imo.
the 5 lessons the American public,not the politicians,learned is 1-we cant trust the govt when it comes to war.2-polticians send our kids,not theirs to war(just look at where the Bush daughters were when Bush sent women to war).3-the Iraq war was about OIL,not people.4-our kids went to war so we could pay 4.00 a gallon for gas,which is ruining the economy.5-Repubs and Dems are more concerned with themselves than the people they were elected to fend for.
It'll be interesting when they look for volunteers for their next war.
Zakaria doesn't get it. He's an apologist for the war. This war was a foolish and costly boondoggle. The sole lesson to be learned from it is this: Don't invade other countries when you haven't been attacked. Period.
Five things we learned about the Iraq war.
1 – It was wrong.
2 – It was wrong.
3 – It was wrong.
4 – It was wrong.
5 – George Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, & Dick Cheney should be in jail.
Wolfowitz, Perle were the biggest pushers – anything to keep things focused away from their beloved Israel..
Lesson #6: The Iraq war was a giganic waste of money and human life.
WE LEARNED:
BUSH AND HIS ADMINISTRATION LIED TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
CONGRESS SIMPLY PLAYED ALONG WITH THE GAME AND APPROVED OF ALL ACTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE WAR.
GOVERNMENT BY, FOR, AND OF THE PEOPLE HAS BEEN LOST
NEITHER THE EXECUTIVE NOR THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT ARE BEING HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE LOSS OF AMERICAN LIVES, MISAPPROPRIATION OF TAXPAYER FUNDS, FRAUDLENT BUSINESS ACTIVITIES, etc.
WASHINGTON POLITICIANS WILL NEVER ADMIT WRONG DOING
Dear Fareed,
I believe you missed the mark. We only truly learnt two things from this war:
1. This was an illegitimate and illegal war waged on false pretenses
2. We simply cannot trust our government to tell us the truth on matters of life and death, war and peace, and that is extremely disapointing.
Sadly, those are the only two learnings that really matter from this war.
NEVER start an UNJUSTIFIED war based on LIES – Lesson NOT learned.
'Slam dunk', 'Cakewalk', 'Greeted as saviors', "Bring em on", Mission Accomplished, "bin Laden, Dead or Alive" Bush and his evil cabal:
Rumsfeld's "We know exactly where [the WMD] are."
Powell"s 'mobile weapons labs.'
Rice's "mushroom cloud."
4,300 U.S. troops DEAD
30,000 U.S. troops WOUNDED and MAIMED-FOR-LIFE.
100,000 Iraq's DEAD, WOUNDED, and MAIMED-FOR-LIFE.
$1,000,000,000,000 and counting
amen
My fellow citizens! President Bush borrowed god knew how much money from China and other countries. The money is tainted with blood from our fallen soldiers and innocent Iraqis, yet some politicians and businessmen in U. S. and Iraq are full of it.
We've lost precious time to think how to deal with China in full strength. We've learned nothing but being greedy and senseless.
Didn't we learn all this in Vietnam?
The domino theory still exists in the minds of many people.
It seems to me that the biggest lessons from the war are (1) it is one thing to win on the battlefield, and something completely different to rebuild a nation; (2) removing a tyrant unleashes internal conflicts that were suppressed under the tyrannical regime (applies to various other regime changes around the world, too); and (3) when civilians and enemy combatants are nearly indistinguishable, a "win" is nearly impossible (similar to problems encountered in Viet Nam); (4) wars do not progress as planned; (5) the decision to enter a war must be taken with enormous caution.
One lesson from the end of WWII that was obviously forgotten was this: Don't disband the defeated enemy army; disarm it. Then turn the healthy, trained, disciplined unarmed defeated soldiers into labor battalions and put them to work rebuilding their country. Pay them a small wage to give them a reason to cooperate and to stimulate the defeated nation's economy. They will decide that, by cooperating with the occupation force, they are helping their nation instead of betraying it. In Iraq, we disbanded the army, failed to disarm the soldiers,rendered them unemployed, and left trained, armed killers with the means and motive to fight the occupying force. I knew all this before the disaster, but no one in authority in the US government did. I'm ashamed that American policymakers are so stupid.
There was only one lesson to learn from Iraq, and that was to HAVE NEVER STARTED IT IN THE FIRST ******* PLACE.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.
9/11 happened on a Tuesday. Next week, Monday the 17th, barely six days after the fateful day, I listened to Wolfovitz
being interviewed on public radio, stating that we have to invade Irak, because of the connection with the terrorists. It
was the earliest official statement in this respect – obviously the invasion has been planned way before.
Let me add a 6th lesson: never take the appearance for a reality!
Once again, Mr. Zakaria in particular and the mainstream press in general have confused the trees for the forest, analyzing how we could have done it better while abandoning reflection on whether we should have done it at all. Space doesn't allow for my thoughts on why this is such a travesty, so if you're interested, check out my blog post on this article by Mr. Zakaria at http://ifbethhadablog.blogspot.com/2013/03/forest-trees-how-fareed-zakaria-and-so.html
One thing we definitely learnes is all those American troops who were killed or horribly injured,did so for 4.00 a gallon gas ! Just think,send your son to war for exxon and shell,destroy him then charge us 4.00 a gallon for gas.They didnt have to kill all our troops just to rip us off at the pump.
If that is true, then why are gas prices still hurting Americans today? Remember that the left said this war was about oil (total lie). Well if it was about oil, why are the prices still a problem?
The next time someone starts World War III through a 9/11 style attack of epic proportions, we should just have World War III. Build up the military to size needed, put the economy on a war footing, and run the table. The tragedy of Iraq is that it sapped the willpower, money, and manpower America needed for taking on Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. If America is attacked again, we should attempt to culturally shatter the Middle East, eliminate Islam as a viable religion, and destroy all water treatment, electrical power, and food distribution facilities in the entire region. GWB was restrained and surgical in dealing with a cancer that required massive radiation and chemo therapy.
Has anyone been troubled by Carthage lately?
"What goes around, comes around" USA should remember these words!
How about don't start a war based on weak evidence ?
The road to Hell is full of good intentions and the intentions of the coalition were good. If they had divided the country in to three states all holding there own elections I believe it would have worked. It became more about getting the oil than establishing peace. They could have had a President like USA who would have represented Iraq but each state with their own security. Well they have one it is called Halliburton.
I don't typically agree with Zakaria, but he got it mostly right here. The ultimate failure in the Iraq war was the way we botched the reconstruction. The invasion went just a quickly and successfully as expected, but the strategy for post war reconstruction, particularly debathification, caused the reconstruction to get ungly and drawn out.
Part of this was trying to build the ew Iraqi government on a western template, instead of figuring out what works for their style and culture. Its kind of like restructuring an entire company, when all we really needed/wanted to do was fire the CEO.
We also failed to account for outside influence, IE Iran and Sunni extremist groups. Had we done a little more preparation, specifically identifyingand contacting multi party political leaders who would have been ready to immediately move into the transitional government, this process could have been much easier.
Never trust a war mongering President of USA.
Americnsa should take the trouble to find out more whether the President, or his croonies, are pursuing outerior motives, like oil, as in Iraq – or helping their rich and wealthy friends in the defence industries.
While there is justiciation for America in fighting Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, the war in Iraq will go down in history as a personal, meaningless and wasfeful war.
Saddam Hussein made the fatal mistake in planning the assasination of President Bush Sr.
Saddam's fatal mistake was being a convenient target for larger ambitions by the Neoconservatives running the USA. Nothing he could have done or not done would have stopped the invasion, it had been planned as far back as 1997.
Lessons learned
1) Don't lie to the pubic
2) Don't go to war for oil, religion or money
3) Don't keep a military empire as a jobs program
4) Don't deficit spend to keep that empire running
5) Don't think any war will last just a week.
Congress did not declare war, and the UN did not approve the invasion, end of story. It was a unilateral war that was planned well in advance. Even when it was well known that Osama Bin Laden was the cause of 9/11 and he was in Afghanistan, Bush advisers were recommending an invasion of Iraq.
Actually.........you can't avoid tearing down the state, in war.
That rule should be........don't feel obligated, to rebuild, for the loser. That is where we have been really stupid.
There's no war in which there are no winners and losers. I case of Iraq war, the oil companies, logistics and security companies, arms manufacturers were big time winners.
Rule #1: Don't get caught plagiarizing.
Another one please. " Dont go to war with inspiration and information from Israel " They will make us fight with just about everysingle country in that region and burn all the bridges. Just becuase they dont want to live peacefully with others givng them there rights.
The biggest lesson again confronting Americans is that of people in American government having their own agenda with no regard for law, cost, or morality, all the while passing it off as being in the interest of America.