Foreign Affairs
Related: About this forumAfter invading Iraq 13 years ago the US is still making the same mistakes
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/mar/21/us-making-same-mistakes-as-iraq-invasion-military-interventionThe lead-up to war in 2003 was filled with spin and misinformation. But today, we arent even having the semblance of a debate about military intervention
After invading Iraq 13 years ago the US is still making the same mistakes
Trevor Timm
Monday 21 March 2016 12.32 EDT
We invaded Iraq 13 years ago on Sunday, but you would barely know from watching the news. Perhaps because there are so many war anniversaries these days its hard to keep track, or perhaps, its because our country has learned virtually nothing from the biggest foreign policy debacle of our generation.
The US government celebrated the Iraq war anniversary by announcing that they were sending more troops to the country. Remember this is a war that supposedly ended more than three years ago, yet thousands of troops have been sent back there since late 2014 to fight Isis, a group whose creation can be directly tied to the first Iraq war or I guess the second one, depending on how you count.
In all, the US has been bombing Iraq for 25 years, which includes the last four presidents (you can watch a montage of all four announcing their respective bombing campaigns here). And if you listen to the leading candidates for both political parties, you can bet that streak will reach five on their first day in office.
Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have called for an expansion of military action in the Middle East in response to Isis. Trump has repeatedly referred to bombing the hell out of their oil fields, despite not being afraid to call the Iraq war a disaster.
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When the only tool you have is a hammer, everything seems like a nail.
Human101948
(3,457 posts)to keep the Military Industrial Complex humming along at top speed.
Fast Walker 52
(7,723 posts)when will we ever learn?
Oh, look, another terror attack-- I guess we haven't dropped enough bombs.
CentralMass
(15,265 posts)Betty Karlson
(7,231 posts)experience with this failed system of war makes a candidate a one-trick pony. It doesn't qualify one for the highest office.
Downwinder
(12,869 posts)Fast Walker 52
(7,723 posts)CentralMass
(15,265 posts)Fast Walker 52
(7,723 posts)It's time to end our sick obsession with war.
unhappycamper
(60,364 posts)Ford_Prefect
(7,828 posts)It's that intoxicating sound of megabucks hand-delivered by MIC surrogates that swells the heart of the American Exceptionalist...
TBF
(31,922 posts)Remember the Sandinista People's Army?
People don't like being oppressed and eventually they fight back.
And so our 2 premier presidential candidates - the 2 most likely to win - give their hate-filled speeches.
And on it goes.
Victor_c3
(3,557 posts)shows she has learned nothing from the past 13 years. I really don't understand how anyone can just gloss over this person's repeated poor decision making in the area of foreign policy. I suppose these same voters will act shocked when we find ourselves embroiled in yet another perpetual quagmire like Iraq.
Yup, they'll be saying "there was no way you could see another disaster coming!"
malthaussen
(17,066 posts)It has ever been thus. And since there is no draft, the only people who really care about our military adventures are the ones who lose limbs, sanity, friends, or loved ones. It's a small percentage of the population, and obviously the general public doesn't care squat about veterans, yellow ribbons notwithstanding. And war is the only foreign policy most people even know or care about: I suppose a few people are celebrating the thawing of relations with Cuba, but most are not paying any attention.
Domestic policy is what gets the voters interested, and even then it is mostly taxation (bad), and the oppression of different groups (good, unless you're one of the oppressed) that get the blood moving. It's a shame, really, that we can't bomb ourselves: I bet any number of people would love it if those people (whoever they may be) were bombed back into the stone age.
-- Mal
tclambert
(11,080 posts)highoverheadspace
(307 posts)And a great many people here are trying to cover it up. Is it not time that DU was honest with itself about the warmongers onboard this website these days? I remember reading it years ago and it was the exact opposite of what it seems to be today. When did killing other people for the sake of Empire become acceptable at a liberal democratic site? I see loads of people here advocating for war and imperialism.
mountain grammy
(26,571 posts)when it deserves a million... failure to learn from unintended consequences is America's strongest trait. Jon Stewart did something on this a while ago. Maybe, collectively as a country, we just can't grasp the concept of history, or the sheer greed of capitalism feeds us the propaganda and we lap it up.
Response to unhappycamper (Original post)
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