When you understand Islam, then, and only then, do you begin realize that the ”democracy project” started by George Bush Jr., in both Afghanistan and Iraq, was a doomed venture from the very beginning.

Dr.Daniel Pipes, a man whom I both know, admire and respect, (but disagree with concerning ”Islamism” and ”moderate Islam”) had it right from the very beginning concerning the Iraq war. It was only later that I understood just how right he really was.

The US should have never taken on the massive project of ”nation building” in Iraq, instead, just upon the take down of Saddam Hussein, then quickly withdrawing to secure bases outside of Iraqi cities, placing a Baatist successor into power, (meanwhile checking for any left over WMD’s) then leave, with a promise to return if the new regime(s) ever revert back to the Saddam model of international meddling and mass murder.

NOTE: There was an earlier ”democracy project” in the Middle East, set up and enforced by the League of Nations in the areas of the former Ottoman Empire. The only nation to truly develop into a full fledged democratic state however, was the civil society of Israel, the Arabs, rejected Western democracy. Too bad our politicians fail time and again to learn from history. That’s the danger of adhering to ideologies, instead of reason and logic, learning from human experience (conservatism).

Retired U.S. general on how to handle IS and why we lost in Iraq, Afghanistan

A three-star general in Iraq and Afghanistan knows firsthand what went wrong during the last decade — and does not want the U.S. to repeat the same mistakes in our battle against the Islamic State.

Lt. Gen. Daniel Bolger, of Raleigh, N.C., retired from the Army last year with the Combat Action Badge, five Bronze Star medals (including one for valor) and a sense of guilt for the soldiers who died under his command.

“I am personally responsible for the deaths of 80 of them — 76 men, four women — and indirectly responsible for a lot more as a senior leader,” he said in an interview with Yahoo News. “I will carry these deaths with me to my grave. I think about it every day and night.”

Bolger, the author of “Why We Lost,” salutes the troops for their bravery and sacrifice but places the blame squarely on people in the higher ranks, like himself.

“The men and women I fought beside did a great job, but I know I let them down by not giving them rational missions that they could carry out,” he said.

Having studied military history, he says he should have known that a U.S.-led counterinsurgency in a country like Afghanistan could never work.

Now, with the rise of the Islamic State, there’s a growing choir urging the U.S. military to lead yet another ground war in Iraq.

“That would be four times biting that poison apple: Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq and then Iraq again,” he said.

More here.