Note: I take the same positions of Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio on the Second Gulf War (technically the third if you count the Iraq-Iran Gulf War). The question of knowing what we know now and would I take action or not is actually two questions. Now vs 2003. I think GWB took the right action on invading Iraq for the time based on the Intel available. Saddam HAD used Sarin gas on the Iranians and the Kurds. He WAS trying to both build a huge cannon to fire chemical weapons at Israel until Mossad took out designer Gerald Bull AND he was buying centrifuges from Germany and other Euro countries for use towards building an atomic weapon. Israel took out the Osirak reactor earlier and was condemned for that but was later to be exonerated. No one wanted that scenario and even Hillary voted to go to war. We have hindsight but no one had foresight. So, if we could go back knowing what we do now, no... Nobody would support that war. Waste of our time, efforts, money, and blood. Same for Afghanistan. Saddam could be managed, ISIS cannot be.

We took out the secular strong men: Saddam, Ghaddafi, and soon Assad. Bastards all. But, as Rob says, they had interests that could be comprehended by western leaders, who are also motivated by power. The religious fanatics of Isis and their ilk are incomprehensible to our mentality. How do you deal with them?

Saddam, Ghaddafi, and Assad: To quote FDR, "They may be sons-of-b****es, but they're our sons-of-b****es."

I miss the Shah :(

Bring back King Farouk, Aga Khan, and Ali Khan. Especially, bring back Rita Hayworth Khan.