By Daniel DePetris
U.S. officials ritualistically tout their respect for Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity, but the fact is that every U.S. president over the last 33 years has bombed Iraq in one way or another. The 1991 Gulf War occurred during George H.W. Bush's administration. Bill Clinton authorized several rounds of airstrikes against Iraqi military facilities, including a four-day bombing campaign in December 1998. George W. Bush's decision to invade and occupy Iraq in 2003 sucked hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops into a nearly decade-long morass. Barack Obama brought U.S. troops back to Iraq in 2014 after the Islamic State arrived at the gates of Baghdad, while Donald Trump continued the military campaign throughout his term.
This piece was originally published in Reason on January 9, 2024. Read more HERE.