2003 Iraq Invasion--"Strategic Blunder of Historic Proportions"
The infamous invasion of Iraq in 2003 has now been called "a Strategic Blunder of Historic Proportions" by one of the well-known and career journalists of our time, Dan Rather.
In an article, he points out how this invasion, which was essentially sold on a fraud (i.e. non-existent "weapons of mass destruction") destroyed the nation and people of Iraq, killing more than 600,000 people, costing the American taxpayers over $2 trillion dollars, strengthened Iran which with its nuclear program and control of Iraq is the greatest threat to peace in the region, and allowed terrorist threats like Al-Qaeda by ignoring efforts to fight it.
Mr. Rather states
"...Iraq War was a war based on untruths at best, lies at worst. It was a lie that there was solid proof Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. (They didn’t). It was a lie that there was proof of a connection between Iraq and 9/11. (There wasn’t). It was not true that this was a war of necessity. It was not true that those who launched the war had any detailed plan to end what they started. The sketchy outline they did have for occupation of the country quickly turned into a disaster."
So it was not a case of "mistaken" intelligence as many would try to sell to defend these con-artist politicians who sold the war; rather it was a fraudulent act of deceiving the American people and the world at large to justify the disastrous killing and maiming of innocent people, destroying nation-states, causing terrorism to spread in a vacuum of power, and empowering nations like Iran to take over much of the Middle East (Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen) unhindered and with a nuclear program.
Mr. Rather states
"The biggest winner of the Iraq War was Iran. In a destabilized region, Iran’s power and influence have grown and spread....And American’s reputation and interests in the Middle East have been harmed, not enhanced. "
As a direct result of the Iraq invasion, terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda were ignored and as a result, its morphed into the monster that we now know as ISIS. The irony is that now information is coming out that in fact, Iran which has given safe haven to and supported both terrorist groups Al-Qaeda and ISIS, to spread death and destruction in Syria and Iraq to further Iran's aims at controlling these two nations.
Thanks to the Bush Administration, Iran now controls Iraq and Syria, and uses terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS, along with its sectarian militia proxies to fight America and its interests in the region.
And yet President Clinton was impeached for an extra-marital affair and President Trump for a phone call to a foreign leader about his political rival. The man who caused the death of over 600,000 innocent people, spent over $2 trillion dollars of taxpayer funds, caused increase of terrorism, and all based on a fraud sold to the world, was never impeached or even held accountable.
Read Mr. Rather's brave and revealing piece at:
https://steady.substack.com/p/a-strategic-blunder-of-historic-proportions
