theatlantic | To a degree that will baffle historians, the political-intellectual
complex that made the Iraq War possible remains intact, and powerful.
Amnesia is part of the reason why. If Bill Kristol, Charles Krauthammer,
and Benjamin Netanyahu knew that before denouncing the Iran deal they’d
be required to account for their views on Iraq, they might not show up
in the green room. If they did, their television appearances would take a
radically different course from the course they generally take today.
The people of Iraq have no choice but to face the war’s consequences: The conflict took half a million Iraqi lives. America’s veterans must face it too: Almost one-third of those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and nearly 50,000
live, or are close to living, on America’s streets. It’s only fair,
therefore, that when people who championed the Iraq War appear in
air-conditioned TV studios to debate the Iran deal, they be made to face
that war’s consequences too. Were that the norm, I suspect the debate
over Iran would barely be a debate at all.
