re: #77 Atlas Fails

Let me clarify- Bush had good intentions, but didn’t understand the sad reality of real politik. Sure Saddam was an awful dictator, but illegally invading his country and overthrowing him squandered much of the sympathy we had around the world after 9/11, not to mention the fact that the Iraqis didn’t react at all as we’d hoped/assumed. Do I think Bush invaded Iraq for oil or for revenge on his dad’s behalf? No, I think he went in thinking it likely Saddam possessed WMDs and intent on liberating the Iraqi people. A well-intentioned disaster isn’t any less of a disaster, though.

I don’t think the war was illegal (though I don’t really care), and I think we would have lost the sympathy we enjoyed no matter what. Too many people want to hate us, and Bush was just their excuse. Other than those two points, I agree with. Bush did indeed fail to understand the situation in Iraq.