How To Avoid Strategic Blunders

George W. Bush just sharply criticized Obama for the first time
Business Insider By Colin Campbell
5 hours ago
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/george-w-bush-just-sharply-115420467.html

... Bush further criticized Obama for pulling US troops out of Iraq too quickly in 2011, though Obama has insisted his hands were tied on the matter. Both Rogin and The New York Times reported that Bush quoted Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and said, "Pulling out of Iraq was a strategic blunder."

"Several attendees sensed a tacit critique of Mr. Obama and his failure to follow through on his threats to use force when Mr. Bush said 'you gotta mean it' when talking tough, and that America's allies and enemies needed to know where an American leader stood," The Times' Jason Horowitz and Maggie Haberman wrote...

"Too quickly" is what is meant by eight years of unplanned mayhem. The only thing that the Republicans had in place for the Iraq War was the lie to justify it.
So where did George Bush stand? Right behind the lie that the incompetent NSA and CIA and Pentagon fed to him.

Of course it was a strategic blunder, but how long can you allow things like the Iraq War to go on? It was based on a lie. It had no plan for governing Iraq after the war. There was nothing but nonsense, like Wolfowitz's bizarre statement that it would cost a billion dollars, tops.

How long can you allow something like that to continue? Until we get it "right"?!
What is "right" in such a misbegotten mess?

We might be able to get things right, if people that seriously got things wrong were held accountable. However, just like General Petraeus, there is no accountability above a certain level in Washington, no real accountability. It is the syndrome which Consortiumnews.com calls "Too Big To Jail".

Consider the head of the CIA who knowingly leaked classified information:
What's David Petraeus Doing Now? He's Been Pretty Busy Since His Resignation
April Siese    @ayetalian
2 months ago
http://www.bustle.com/articles/67914-whats-david-petraeus-doing-now-hes-been-pretty-busy-since-his-resignation

It’s been a little over two years since Gen. David Petraeus was forced to resign his position as CIA Director, and this week he pled guilty to exposing confidential documents to his mistress. So what’s Petraeus been doing in that time? Well, since his resignation, Petraeus has thrived in the private sector and taught at prestigious institutions like Harvard and USC; he’s also the chairman of KKR Global Institute, the international branch of KKR & Co., a global investment firm based in NYC.

His lone course at CUNY as Visiting Professor at Macaulay Honors College garnered attention from students and protestors alike; Petraeus himself earned thousands of dollars. To say his 2012 scandal has ruined his career would be false; arguably, it’s just allowed the decorated general to pivot from government work to the private sector.

Petraeus’ position with KKR & Co. — certainly his most steady, consistent job — is not unlike his previous experiences with the government, during which international policy was at the forefront. Earlier this year, Petraeus was in Kazakhstan to discuss financial investments at Nazarbayev University. The high-ranking international officials he regularly does business with — including Nazarbayev University’s namesake, whom he’d met years ago while serving as Commander of the International Security Assistance Force — certainly aren’t strangers...

A war based on lies : no one punished.
Over 4,000 American dead and countless Iraqi dead : no one punished.
Eight years spent tweak a mortal disaster : no one punished.

Every morning over breakfast, the Government and the Pentagon, the CIA, the NSA, and every lobbyist for the military-industrial complex read the media reports about how great they are.
They might get a small column about the hungry and homeless.
They pause and let the crumbs of toast richly buttered with Swiss butter fall to their plate, breading the residue of their eggs and bacon.

They think to themselves, "Let 'em eat cake!"
Pause...
"Only... there ain't no free lunch...Hah! So let 'em eat cake with food stamps... at least until we cut them benefits, too."

--