Nope.
The mistake was in electing the feckless Bill Clinton.
Maybe he was negligent — or maybe he was bribed — but Clinton did not enforce the terms of the ceasefire which ended the first Gulf War.
Eight years late, Saddam was once again a threat to the region — and YES a supporter of terrorism.
Your whole post actually reinforces Rand's point. A nation that can't establish any continuity between one administration and the next has no business waging military campaigns all over the world that are immediately put at risk every Election Day.