Yep,
Big mistake. Bush sold the public a bill of goods.
I wonder if Afghanistan would have turned out better if we
and the rest of the world would have just focused there.
Bush, Cheney, and Kissinger and that ilk thought they could modernize the Middle East. Tear it down and provide it the support needed to build new institutions. They thought they could have the same success as Japan.
The only problem is that most Muslims really want to live as if it’s the 7th century in perpetuity.