If Bush the First had finished the job in 1991, we wouldn’t have had to be back in again.
Never finish wars half way, you just leave a mess for others to clean up later.
It wasn't our job to "finish." Granted, we should NEVER have authorized Saddam use of the attack choppers vs. the marsh Arabs and the Kurds.. but to roll into Baghdad? No way.
As I recall, the left wanted an "exit plan", a limited operation to achieve a desired goal. Bush caved in to that, his mistake, but let's remember that it was the Democrats who got what they wanted, and that is where a share of the blame needs to be placed.
Never finish wars half way, you just leave a mess for others to clean up later.”
The United States government developed a bad habit of doing just that all throughout the 20th century.
WWI - Instead of pushing the “14 points” America retreated into its own isolationist shell and let the Allies impose the reparations against the Central powers that led to.....
WWII - Patton had it right. We should have taken out the Russians while they were manpower exhausted and our armies were intact. It would have prevented......
Korea - How does a country fight millions of screaming Chinamen?
Vietnam - Another example of “limited war” that did not achieve victory. Was it ever supposed to?
Which brings us back to 1991.