Assessing the Blame for Iraq: Bush, Obama, McCain, Others; Iraq Sunken Costs

In response to Iraq Splinters Into Pieces, Thank George Bush and the Neocons, I received emails from Neocon true believers and others who want to whitewash Bush's role in creating this mess.

One person said Democrats are "equally" to blame.

How laughable. Had Bush not trumped up lies, sucking Colin Powell along for the ride, the war would never have happened. Period.

Yes, Democrat nutcases went along for the ride, notably Hillary Clinton. And had she just apologized for her stupidity, she might have won the nomination instead of Obama.

Obama's Mistakes

Others pointed out that Obama made mistakes. Indeed he did. Giving weapons to Islamic rebels in Syria was one of them.

Undoubtedly that mindless action provided weapons that ended up in Iraq, not Syria.

Reader Dennis writes ..

"The current situation in Iraq didn't have to be this way for 2 reasons: 1. Bush should not have invaded, and 2. The Current Administration should not have provided assistance and weapons to the Al Qaeda linked insurgents in Syria, who intent to create an Islamist state in the region between Syria and Iraq."

I agree, 100%. But the first mistake was the most costly.

And look who thought Obama did not do enough in Syria. Why it's none other than WWIII proponent, Republican Senator John McCain.

Flashback February 16, 2014: Think Progress reports McCain: It’s ‘Ludicrous’ To Say More U.S. Military Aid Will Worsen Syria’s Civil War

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) on Sunday dismissed the notion that increasing American military assistance to rebels in Syria could worsen the conflict there.

McCain has been calling for greater U.S. military intervention in Syria ever since Bashar al-Assad’s regime cracked down violently on peaceful protests throughout the country in 2011. Now, with Syrian peace talks stalled and violence there getting worse and more brutal, CNN’s Candy Crowley asked McCain on her State of the Union program whether adding more guns to the situation might do more harm than good. “Isn’t it a terrible idea to do nothing in Syria?” McCain asked rhetorically.

But later in the segment, Crowley returned to the question. “Do you entertain the possibility,” Crowley wondered, that “more harm could happen if we increased it, help militarily?”

“More harm could happen?!” McCain shot back. “Candy with all due respect that’s ludicrous. That’s ludicrous!”

Syria Weapons End Up In Iraq

Where did those weapons end up? My bet is the same as reader Dennis.

Yet, McCain (and other warmongers) want Obama to send more.  McCain also wants missiles in the Czech Republic. Is there any war action McCain doesn't want?

Obama Won’t Rule Out Airstrikes to Aid Iraq’s Army

To combat Obama's mindless sending of weapons to Syria (supported 500% by McCain), Bloomberg reports Obama Won’t Rule Out Airstrikes to Aid Iraq’s Army.

“I don’t rule out anything,” Obama said today when asked whether the U.S. was willing conduct drone strikes or take other action against the jihadists. Iraq “clearly is an emergency situation” and the government there needs more help.

Any move by Obama to intervene in Iraq would hit opposition in Congress. While some lawmakers were pressing for the U.S. to act, the Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Representative Howard “Buck” McKeon, said he would oppose funding any military action. His counterpart in the Senate, Democratic Senator Carl Levin, said he was skeptical that air strikes made sense.

Colonel Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters that the U.S. is moving ahead with military assistance programs started with Iraq since 2011, to include expediting the lease of AH-64 Apache helicopters for delivery this year as well as delivery of 100 Boeing Co. (BA) Scan Eagle surveillance drones.

The Pentagon this month notified Congress for approval to sell Iraq an additional $1 billion in military equipment including Beechcraft AT-6C attack aircraft, AM General Humvee trucks and Raytheon Co. (RTN) aerostats.

Republicans in Congress accused Obama of ignoring a growing threat to the U.S. from the fighting in Iraq. Arizona Senator John McCain said withdrawing all U.S. forces was a mistake and that the president should fire “his entire national security team, which has been a total failure.”

House Speaker John Boehner blamed the turmoil in Syria, Egypt and now Iraq on Obama’s policy failures and accused him of ignoring signs of the growing threat from Sunni extremists.

“They’re 100 miles from Baghdad,” the Ohio Republican said at a Washington news conference.“And what’s the president doing? Taking a nap.”

Always More!

Yep, There you have it. Boehner and McCain, want Obama to do more. Always more!

Always forgetting that Bush started this madness. And Republican readers always forget neocons pressure Obama to do the very things that blow up.

Maliki’ Connection

Nouri al-Maliki’ is Prime Minister of Iraq.

Who is responsible for putting Maliki’ in charge? The answer is none other than George Bush. 

Bloomberg continues ...

Levin, of Michigan, told reporters, “We shouldn’t knee-jerk anything. We should look at all the options carefully and thoughtfully.”

Levin and other lawmakers faulted Maliki for refusing to sign an agreement for some U.S. troops to remain in Iraq and for using his government to enforce Shiite Muslim rule instead of seeking accommodation with Iraq’s Sunni minority.

While the militants’ swift victories raise questions about Obama’s 2011 decision to withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq and his reluctance to help arm moderate Syrian rebels fighting Sunni extremists in that country, polls show Americans are in no mood for another overseas intervention.

Forty-seven percent want the U.S. to do less on the global stage, while only 19 percent favor more engagement, an April NBC/Wall Street Journal poll showed.

Sunken Costs

People are tired of war and warmongering. Rightfully so.

The Iraq war, begun with the U.S.-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein in 2003, cost 4,490 Americans their lives, according to Defense Department data. The price for U.S. taxpayers was more than $2 trillion, according to the Costs of War Project by the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

I suggest we face the harsh reality: nothing can bring the lives lost or the money spent back. We wasted $2 trillion dollars already. Let's not waste more.

McCain, as always wants to press on. And since this is a clear case of "Mission Accomplished", somehow this is all Obama's fault.

By the way it should be perfectly clear now why elder Bush did not continue on to Baghdad and why it was a huge mistake for baby Bush to "finish the job".

Time for Self Assessment

I can and do blame Obama for countless things. But Republicans would be very wise to self-assess on Iraq, on nation building, and on warmongering in general.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com