well doesn t argue that we shouldn t go back in on one of the central flaws i think of the decision back in 2003 was the sense that if we simply went in and deposed a dictator or simply went in and cleared out the bad guys, that somehow, peace and prosperity would automatically emerge. and that that lesson, we should have learned a long time ago. i ll get back to you, michael, because that seems to be his argument, is the one you made a moment ago, which is this idea that somehow, it would be like the overthrowing of those governments in eastern europe, like the cold war, that all of a sudden there would be a blooming of democracy and a better country overall. of course, in eastern europe, the revolutions were typically a lot more peaceful, a lot more political, and they were in countries that had stronger institutions that were undergirding the society. i do share some of the criticism of president obama s decision in 2011, but i think it s a much lower magnitude mistake than to go
like the cold war, that all of a sudden there would be a blooming of democracy and a better country overall. of course in eastern europe the revolutions were typically a lot more peaceful a lot more political, and they were in countries that had stronger institutions that were undergirding the society. i do share some of the criticism of president obama s decision in 2011, but i think it s a much lower magnitude mistake than to go into iraq in 2003 with no significant preparation. and by 2011 there was reason to hope that the iraqis themselves would hold it together. now, prime minister maliki and others made some big mistakes thereafter, and i think president obama was wrong to pull out u.s. troops. but it wasn t going to be easy to stay and obama did keep forces there for twice as long as he had promised on the campaign trail, along the time frame that president bush himself had sketched out. i would give president obama some criticism there, but not nearly as harsh as so the c