How to Kill a Country

The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a climax, not a turning point. An excursion into the deeper past helps explain why it happened and the terrible costs in both lives and treasure that resulted from such hubris. Seen from this long-term perspective, the war wasn’t a mere “mistake” or strategic blunder, a stubbed toe on the path to human flourishing under the aegis of American power. It was a catastrophe decades in the making.