We were imposing a no-fly zone when we attacked Iraq in 2003. There is no way to know what Saddam would have done if we did not pursue regime change. I fully supported the invasion.
But. America needs to deal with today’s reality. Obama is incompetent. We lost vital ongoing intelligence in Iraq because of the 2011 withdrawal. Our options today are limited.
My personal view is we either unleash the full force of our military with almost unlimited rules of engagement, or stand down and let the Arabs kill each other and let Muhammad sort things out.
It kills me that Saddam is now looked at as someone with some sense of stability. The guy only had a 10 year war with Iran, invaded Kuwait, and gassed the Kurds, not to mention all the torture that went on there and mass graves. Some stability!
If anything, one could say nothing has changed. But really, can you argue that it’s actually worse?