re: #112 jvic

That is astonishing because Bush and Cheney, as members of the Vietnam generation, had seen a military victory warp into political defeat.

The foregoing thought crossed my mind when I saw Bush strutting on the aircraft carrier, so my perceptions are not entirely hindsight.

While it remains possible that a cataclysm from the Middle East can be avoided, the previous administration has exposed the country to serious and unnecessary risk.

Yep… And this is pretty much what absolutely everyone else involved in policy said around the world.

Our real chance to truly change Iraq was in the first Gulf war had we turned Iraq over to the governance of the arab alliance. That would have tied the Arabs up dealing with Iraq and taken pressure off of Israel while putting more permanent and lasting pressure on Iran while leaving our forces free from the second conflict.

The biggest blunder in Iraq actually rests with Bush senior. I have absolutely no idea why he betrayed the opposition in Iraq and left Saddam in power.