WHAT WE KNOW NOW IS IRAQ IS OBAMA’S FAULT, NOT BUSH’S

The fall of Ramadi, Iraq’s 4^th largest city, 64 miles from Baghdad, to the vicious terrorists of ISIS has renewed interest in an old controversy.

"Knowing what we know now," invading Iraq was a mistake, say most GOP presidential candidates –including the brother of the president who ordered it.

Many generals thought so at the time. Invading Iraq "was the dumbest thing we ever did", said retired Marine Gen. James Mattis.

We were right to go into Afghanistan and Iraq, said retired Army LtGen. Daniel Bolger. We went wrong when we stayed to "nation build." 

The Taliban and Saddam Hussein’s regime were ousted in quick, nearly bloodless campaigns. If after them we had left Kabul in the hands of the Northern Alliance, turned Baghdad over to (more or less) friendly Iraqis, our two longest wars would have been the shortest.

The fundamental mistake in Iraq – creating the Coalition Provisional Authority – was compounded by slow recognition of and slower response to the insurgency, and a "strategy" which didn’t include protecting civilians from terrorists.

With the troop surge and the change in strategy which accompanied it, the Bush administration eventually got things right. By the summer of 2008, the insurgency was over.

Iraq was in "good shape" in 2010, early 2011, said Robert Gates, who was secretary of defense then. Such good shape President Obama claimed credit for a victory he had nothing to do with.

The unraveling began with the war in Libya. After Muammar Khadafy’s regime fell, weapons were shipped to rebels in Syria, according to documents obtained by Judicial Watch  May 15.

Islamists dominate the rebellion in Syria, said a Defense Intelligence Agency report in August, 2012. They pose a "dire threat" to Iraq, which was vulnerable because Mr. Obama – over the protest of his generals – withdrew all U.S. troops the year before.

"We had all our intelligence capacity there. We knew where the enemy was," said retired Army Gen. Jack Keane. But when U.S. troops left Iraq, "that screen went blank."

The sudden interest in what GOP candidates think about the decision to invade Iraq is an effort by the Lying Swine to blame George W. Bush for what’s happened since he left office.

Mr. Bush was accused of going to war "unilaterally," of lying about weapons of mass destruction.

Congress – including most Democrats – approved military action. So did the British Parliament and the UN Security Council. Twenty one countries sent troops to Iraq.

That fears of Saddam’s WMD were overblown was an intelligence failure, not deceit. All Western intelligence services, friendly Arab states, and most of Saddam’s own generals thought his WMD programs were robust.

What President Bush was falsely accused of doing, President Obama has done.

*He went to war in Libya without authorization from Congress, continued it in apparent violation of the War Powers Act.

*A DIA report written the day after the attack on our consulate in Benghazi on 9/11/2012 said it was planned 10 days in advance by Islamists who sought "to kill as many Americans as possible." Mr. Obama was lying when he said it was a "spontaneous" reaction to a Youtube video.

*The sluggish response to the insurgency in Iraq was lightning fast compared to Mr. Obama’s tardy recognition of the ISIS threat. Tactical errors made during the Bush administration pale into insignificance compared to the bungling of the fight against the Islamic State.

Iraq was peaceful when President Bush left office. More than 73 percent of 2,357 Americans killed in Afghanistan were still alive.

Deaths from terror worldwide have more than doubled since 2008, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace, an Australian think tank. The Middle East is in chaos. Intelligence officials say Islamists are a greater threat to Americans now than on 9/11.

The world’s going to Hell in a handbasket, but few in the news media report what’s happening, or why.  Lying Swine journalists should focus less on what Mr. Bush did in 2003, more on what Mr. Obama is –and isn’t — doing now.

Jack Kelly is a former Marine and Green Beret, and was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force during the Reagan Administration.  He is the national security writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

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