President Bush invaded Iraq, a majority Shiite country ruled by a Sunni dictator, and thought they’d be so appreciative, they’d adopt western style democracy and serve as a counterweight against Iran, their majority Shiite neighbor.
From the start, this was a flawed idea. (1/7)
From the start, this was a flawed idea. (1/7)
Nonetheless, our brave troops, our brave diplomats, and a whole lot of brave Iraqis created something extraordinary: a parliamentary system through which Iraqis might determine their own destiny.
Predictably, they elected a Shiite majority and chose to ally with Iran. (2/7)
Predictably, they elected a Shiite majority and chose to ally with Iran. (2/7)
President Obama, who opposed the war in the first place, saw the soup sandwich he’d been handed and tried to decrease combat operations in Iraq and - in order to avoid war - improve relations with Iran. (3/7)
President Trump, who supported the Iraq war but later denied it, cut off relations with Iran. He also chose to conduct more combat ops within Iraq, though not against ISIS, who Iraqis want us to fight, but against Iran, who the majority of Iraqis do not want us to fight. (4/7)
Now, the parliamentary government we set up in the country we never should have invaded has determined (as is common for freely elected governments) that they don’t want our military in their country anymore. (5/7)
President Trump, who now claims he never wanted our military in Iraq in the first place, is so angry about this decision that he’s saying, “either let us keep our troops in your country fighting against your neighbor and ally or we’ll levy economic sanctions against you.” (6/7)
He is not doing any of this because he has a different world view than Bush or Obama. He’s doing this because he doesn’t care about any of what I explained above and he thinks war helps him politically.
My point is: There’s an election in 302 days. Let’s win it. (7/7)
My point is: There’s an election in 302 days. Let’s win it. (7/7)
