Billie from Ockham wrote:katamari Damassi wrote:I believe that Israel helped instigate the second Iraq war. {snip}
If so, it was one of their less-intelligent moves, given Iran's increased influence inside Iraq.
The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a supremely
STUPID move for everyone, Israelis, 'Muricans, dirty Yoorpeans, even most Middle Eastern regimes (even Iran now has to deal with its backlash in the form of the Salafi militias).
It was a thoroughly retarded war, based on blatant lies, extremely poor planning, virulent delusions, and overall barrels of stupidity. The NeoCons are complete morons.
Everyone and their dog was telling them not to do it, but they did it anyway. Well at least Dick Cheney could get his Halliburton guys some jobs!
Among the negative consequences of the 2003 invasion:
-strained relationships between the US and its European allies (especially Germany and France)
-record low levels of popularity for the US in general
-paving the way to Shia-Sunni conflict, including more influence of Iran. the birth of ISIS, countless Salafi militias
-loss of credibility of the US as the "World Cop" and the death knell of the "Pax Americana"
-growth of islamic terrorist groups
-the beginning of the idiotic doctrine of removal of all leaders hostile to the US in the Middle East, which has lead to further disasters in Libya and Syria.
Incidentally it was a fucking illegal war, according to the UN Charter:
The then United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in September 2004 that: "From our point of view and the UN Charter point of view, it [the war] was illegal."
In a perfect world Dubya, Cheney and their toady Tony Blair should have been hauled to the Hague for war crimes, although Bush could have been excuse on the ground of diminished capacity. Incidentally the fact that the US could invade a country and get away with it was what the Russkies used an excuse to invade Ukraine.
So overall a fuck up for everyone involved, and a source of countless problems for the world.