The U.S. military campaign in Iraq began in 1990 with Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm -- whose express stated purpose was to protect one of the most radical Islamic governments in the Middle East (Saudi Arabia) against one of the most tolerant (the Ba'athist regime of Saddam Hussein).
This whole thing has been a farce from the get-go.
I meant after 9/11. It sounded as if he was really going to do something, but he backed off on naming the enemy almost immediately, as soon as the first squeal came from CAIR and the Dems.