A Foreign Policy Thought

When the media talk about the Iraq War as a giant folly, we must consider the failures of non-interventionist policies as well. Take for instance, Libya, where we did the bare minimum to support the insurgents and still, the country is in chaos.

We must remember, the Iraq war was the result of having no good options in the Middle East. When we adopt a hands off attitude, humanitarian disasters occur - see Saddam and the Kurds, see the Syrian or Lebanese Civil Wars, see Libya, see the Iranian Revolution. When we adopt a pro-active, interventionist stance, it also tends to end up problematic, see Iraq.

The Dems want to blame the Bush administration for Iraq and all subsequent Middle East policy failures. They do this full well knowing the majority of them supported the invasion and knowing we didn't have any good options and cynically use it to political advantage. Now, the Republicans are doing the same, suggesting Obama pulling the troops has caused this ISIS group to take over a third of the country. Neither side has argued in good faith about these crucial issues since 2004.