By the time GWB had left office the Surge had worked, both Sunni and Shia leaders had figured out Al-Qaeda was the real enemy, better to work with the Americans. Hearts and Minds and all that.
But as mentioned these factions have been warring forever. Only thing understood and respected is strength. And yes, bad a guy as he was, Hussein kept everything under control. Even allowed over a million Iraqi Christians and other groups to practice their faith in peace.
We shouldn't have went in but Hussein claiming WMD's(which every major intelligence service believed true as well as most major Democrats), being in violation of 17 U.N. resolutions, supporting suicide bombers in Israel, messing around with the petrodollar, etc pretty much earned him an invasion after 9/11.
Can claim opportunism if you like, but fact is we got things eventually under control. Completely leaving was against military advice, and everything unraveled after we did.
I doubt some here will shed a tear but Christian community pretty much gone. And if it matters at all Iraq is a land full of ancient sites. Priceless artifacts, temples, frescoes, statues, etc have been destroyed by ISIS. This is a group that won't tolerate anything but Islam.
Imagine if a huge group of the KKK revolted in Mississippi and there was no one nearby strong enough to stop them and the ones who could turned a blind eye for years while they killed every minority they could? And in the most brutal fashion? Would it just be intolerance towards another religious group then?
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