The random political thoughts thread (Part Deux)

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by Nephythys

I'm not fooled into thinking attacks only killed "bad people"- are you fooled into thinking WE (as in the US) are the ones entirely responsible for the deaths of innocents there now?

I think it's been pretty well documented that our government had little to no concept of the shape of the conflict they would be sparking off. They were completely unprepared for the level of sectarian violence (despite decades, if not centuries, of precedent that some bare minimum amount of research would have pointed to). They just started dropping bombs and expected things to just kinda settle out for the best. Are "we" "responsible" for the violence there now? No, the people committing it are. Were "we" "irresponsible" for not anticipating the chaos that was inevitable and failing to conduct the operation in a way to minimize it in the aftermath? I'd be hard pressed to say no.