Rocked by Iraq: Americans are Rattled But Haven't Learned Critical War Lessons by Daniel DePetris - The National Interest
Fifteen years removed from the first night of Operation Iraqi Freedom, most Americans have come to the conclusion that the war in Iraq was a blunder of epic proportions. In its naive pursuit of Western-style freedom and democracy in the Middle East, the George W. Bush administration went into Iraq underprepared, overconfident in what it could accomplish, and negligent about the post-conflict aftermath. The terrible planning, misplaced assumptions, and ideological close-mindedness were bad enough—add in the dumb decision to disband the Iraqi army and ignorance about Iraqi history and demography, and it was amateur hour in the Bush White House…