I have heard several times now, from ultra-smart Ivy League think-tank types, on radio and TV, that the invasion of Iraq was the worst foreign policy decision in US history. As much as a case can be made that the invasion was a terrible strategic error, and was morally wrong, our great country has made much, much worse foreign policy decisions to date. Just a few examples:
1. The importation to the US of Black African slaves. The US slave trade with Africa ended January 1, 1808, twenty-one years after the adoption of the US constitution. Of course, slavery itself did not end until much later. But until 1808 slavery was at least in part a feature of US foreign policy.
2. The conquest of the American West. People who think that the invasion of Iraq represents the worst of our country's imperialist excess should read (or re-read) Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, by Dee Brown. Remember, before the ``West was won,'' the expansion of the original US into new North American territories was entirely within the scope of foreign policy.
3. US involvement in Southeast Asia. Just as all of the violence in Iraq today can be laid at the feet of the US, all (or at least much) of what happened in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam during and soon after our military involvement in these countries can also be blamed on the US.
OK, enough. I know this discussion is ridiculous. But I think some perspective is needed amidst some of the most harshly critical rhetoric on Iraq.
I will leave an analysis of the war in Iraq to future historians. Of course, my personal hope is that the situation in Iraq continues to improve, and that eventually Iraq becomes a model democracy for the Muslim Arab world.
Also, of course, one of my greatest fears for our country and the world is that the situation in Iraq massively deteriorates from its recently achieved relative stability. G-d forbid that our involvement in Iraq ever does rate high on a list of worst mistakes in US history.
