You guys are debating a lie told to the American people in order to steal their wealth and usher in the surveillance state via the Patriot act. For our safety and the defense of the constitution of course.
Alot of this analysis of the GWOT is Monday morning quarterback bullshit. Go back to 2001 and recall the position we found ourselves in:
1. Over 3000 dead Americans in NY. The entire country wanted vengeance, now! Its one of the few times we've been that unified as a nation. Were our leaders really to declare "Nope, we don't meddle in foreign affairs."
2. The perp of the attack was NOT a nation state. So who do we bomb? The terrorists may have been from Saudi Arabia, the attacks were likely funded by Saudi money. That doesn't mean we should start a war with the government of Saudi Arabia, especially since they are the closest thing to an ally we had in the region.
3. Afghanistan was clearly a nest for terrorist assholes, protected by the Taliban. It was also one of the hardest countries to attack as evidenced by history. We did it anyway, and it was the right call. We sent alot a terrorist assholes to their virgins there and fucked the Taliban.
Up to this point, American had acted justly. And thats probably where it should have ended. We should have focused on killing every goat asshole fucking tribal Taliban leader and all his sons in Afganistan, then gone completely hands off and let them figure out who is in charge now. But we should have ALWAYS kept Bagram Airfield and whatever other physical assets we needed in the area to fuck shit up when required. If the new leaders fuck with America, rinse and repeat. Eventually they'll get the hint that doing terrorism stuff gets them dead. We didn't need to do an OUNCE of nation building. We need to focus on droning government official who fucked with Americans. But even if the goat fuckers declared that they were now a western democracy and held voluntary elections, we still should have kept Bagram. It was too strategic to EVER give up, and the fact that has happened is an utter disaster.
The invasion of Iraq is where things get fucked up complicated. If the WMD story was true, and Saddam is there telling UN inspectors to fuck off 13 times, at some point "Or Else" has to mean something. But I don't know what's true, and "or else" could have been a cruise missile hits his palaces one at a time until he is tired of losing resorts. At the time, I was a big supporter of "fight them there, not here." In retrospect, we could have accomplished that in Afghanistan. So I struggle to judge the merits of the invasion of Iraq.
One final thought...To say that any soldier that died in Iraq was somehow blind to the truth and gave his life in vain is complete horseshit. They died defending freedom, as requested of them by our government. To quote Karl Erickson at Tactical Rifleman, "Our job wasn't to set U.S. foreign policy, our job was to deliver the last 600 yards of it." Its up to us citizens to make sure our fighters are used wisely, and hold our leaders accountable. But half our adults don't even vote.