James Coley: Deception in Iraq begat ISIS

As concern about ISIS grows, it is important to see it in historical perspective. Those of us who opposed the Iraq War in 2003 made two predictions, and we were right about both.

First, we said there were no weapons of mass destruction. There was no “intelligence error” about this; they just lied to us. Our fears – in the wake of 9/11 – were manipulated to justify invading Iraq. We knew this at the time, if only because of the “Downing Street” memos, which stated that “the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy” of starting the war. Besides, if President Bush really believed Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, we would never have invaded, because he would have used them. We also knew that.

Second, we said that, although Saddam was an evil man, ousting him would lead to something even worse. We were right about that, too. Now we have ISIS.

So when we worry about these brutal terrorists, remember to thank Bush for creating circumstances that produced them. As usual, peace activists and liberals prove to be right in the long run. Unfortunately, many people have too short an attention span to notice.

This story was originally published March 24, 2015 at 1:55 PM with the headline "James Coley: Deception in Iraq begat ISIS."