tragic the entire Iraq War debacle was and how it will be seen exactly as that in History.
Reading articles on how in 2002/03, intelligence and military assets were all diverted by the Bush Administration into Iraq & it changed everything.
That was when our relationship with Pakistan went to hell. Pakistani officials said we had AQ almost destroyed. KSM had been found in Pakistan and then all the focus, intelligence and military apparatus shifted to Iraq and Saddam Hussein. We let AQ get back off the mat. Afghanistan went to hell. All the soldiers and people killed in Iraq - for what? For nothing, for lies.
I just read an article last night about how Obama getting OBL worries China. The US has been weakened by Bush's diversions and it helped China greatly.
It is really painful how badly Bush screwed things up. Obama can't just fix it all and take us back to where we should be right now. Some "mistakes" just can't be made right.
Here is the article:
China’s America Obsession
Why Osama bin Laden's death is making Chinese leaders nervous. -snip-
Of course, editorials in state-owned newspapers do not always mirror the Communist Party's thinking or policies. But in this case, these two editorials remind us of
two related points about Beijing's worldview. First, China respects and even fears the United States more than the vast majority of Americans probably realize. And second, China's sense of isolation is not an act but acute and real -- and Osama bin Laden's death will only accelerate America's reengagement with its Asian allies and partners at China's expense. When Washington shifted its focus toward terrorism and the Middle East after the September 11 attacks in 2001, Beijing experienced genuine relief. As China's leaders and strategists came to believe, an America distracted by two wars and a weak economy presented a priceless window of opportunity for China to extend its influence in Asia and beyond. But Beijing realizes that Washington's strategic attention will eventually turn eastwards, and the death of bin Laden is one small but significant step in hastening the arrival of that day. As one prominent Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) analyst put it to me recently, the American "spearhead will soon be pointed at Beijing."
China's focus on America is obsessive and omnipresent among its leaders and strategists.
-snip-
But
Chinese experts also view America as a unique superpower that relentlessly seeks not only to build and maintain its power, but also to spread its democratic values. This is of grave concern to the authoritarian Chinese leaders, because they believe that America will have difficulty accepting a greater leadership role for Beijing so long as Communist Party remains exclusively in power. Senator John McCain's "League of Democracies" might never become a formal reality, but Beijing believes that it already exists, at least in Asia, through democracies such as India, Japan, and South Korea.
Moreover, Beijing fears the American democratic process. While Americans view democracy as an advantage since it can offer United States an institutional and bloodless process for leadership and policy renewal, China views American democracy as a source of irrationality and unpredictability. Many in Beijing, pointing to President George W. Bush's rapid decisions to go to war in Afghanistan and Iraq after 9/11, believe a new administration might actually increase the chances of uncomfortable shifts in policy that will lead Washington to suddenly focus its competitive and hostile gaze to the east.
Some of Beijing's strategists now even argue that the United States has three advantages over China that will help preserve American strategic primacy in Asia. http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/05/06/china_s_america_obsession 
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