In 2003, the dynamic duo of George Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair were the ones who set in motion the great invasions of Iraq. A decade later, Tony finally got around to sort of explaining what went wrong. “For sure, we underestimated profoundly the forces that were at work in the region. To be honest, (I sure am glad he is being honest) my understanding of the Middle East is a lot deeper today than when I was Prime Minister.”
I would assume, a Government in England had something known as a “Foreign Office” staffed by people who did have some understanding of the Middle East. The real question is: was Tony Blair urged to go a different path by Middle East experts in the Foreign Office?