Lost In the Enthusiasm

Appearing in The Guardian, John Bolton writes with characteristic bravado about past decisions and warns about what the premature, politically calculated withdrawal of American troops in Iraq could signal, most notably with regard to Iran's influence in the region. We already gave them a top secret drone, why not hand them Iraq as a follow-up gift?

America's complete withdrawal of its troops from Iraq is a tragic mistake. It jeopardises the gains made by President Bush's (and Tony Blair's) eminently correct 2003 decision to overthrow Saddam Hussein, and risks the broader Middle East falling into chaos. Sadly, Bush himself initiated this mistake by agreeing to this end point in our status-of-forces agreement with Iraq, but it was consummated by Barack Obama, who never wanted to be in Iraq, and who is now delighted to pull the plug.

But those, like Obama, who welcome US withdrawal as vindicating their opposition to the Iraq war are profoundly misguided, ignoring the international coalition's real successes in Iraq and the dismal implications of their McGovernite "come home, America" strategy.