The American Conservative The Deciders

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The American Conservative : The American Conservative The Deciders The disastrous Iraq policies that led to ISIS were not President Bush’s.

By JOHN HAY • October 27, 2015

In May 2003, in the wake of the Iraq War and the ousting of Saddam Hussein, events took place that set the stage for the current chaos in the Middle East. Yet even most well-informed Americans are unaware of how policies implemented by mid-level bureaucrats during the Bush administration unwittingly unleashed forces that would ultimately lead to the juggernaut of the Islamic State.

 

The lesson is that it appears all too easy for outsiders working with relatively low-level appointees to hijack the policy process. The Bay of Pigs invasion and Iran-Contra affair are familiar instances, but the Iraq experience offers an even better illustration—not least because its consequences have been even more disastrous.

 

The cast of characters includes President George W. Bush; L. Paul “Jerry” Bremer, the first civilian administrator of postwar Iraq; Douglas Feith, Bush’s undersecretary of defense for policy;

[Valin]

Disastrous Iraq policies? Bite me John. One of the major places the disaster Iraq turned into is your fine magazine. You have

blood on your hands.