Yes, it took Dubya to teach me how wise his father had been about putting together the coalition to liberate Kuwait, which also included Arab states like Syria (!) and Egypt, as I recall. Obama reached out to members of Bush Sr's foreign policy team (Scowcroft, Powell, Robert Gates), and I think it was an attempt to drive a wedge between them and the neocons. However, for all Bush Sr's wisdom at building the coalition, he still ended up in the untenable position of trying to contain Saddam without overthrowing him, which unfortunately seemed to have an inexorable logic of its own over time. Still, foreign policy basically makes idiots of everyone, because all states have their own agendas, and it usually isn't to do what's on yours.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2016-02-05 02:19 pm (UTC)