June 15, 2014

It never fails that those who are responsible for helping the Republicans burn down the house by invading Iraq in the first place are now the ones opining about how terrible that "the blame game" is being played over the escalating violence we're seeing there now.

Amato already slammed NBC and David Gregory for inviting the likes of Paul Wolfowitz on this Sunday's Meet the Press, but reporters like Ignatius bear their share of the blame for enabling these neocons as well. Ignatius is still doing his best to avoid any accountability for what's happening being laid squarely at the feet of the Bush administration.

DAVID GREGORY: This crisis in Iraq leaves an obvious question, which is how did we possibly get here after the incredible sacrifice of our forces and commitment by this country in Iraq. I'm joined for perspective by David Ignatius of The Washington Post. He's covered Iraq extensively throughout his career. Dexter Filkins of The New Yorker, author of The Forever War, about his experiences covering the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Paul Wolfowitz, who served as deputy security of Defense during the Second Iraq War under President Bush. And from New York, Republican Congressman Peter King of New York, former chair of the House Homeland Security Committee. Welcome to all of you. David Ignatius, I think again Americans are looking at this saying, "A decade of conflict in Iraq. How has it come to this point where any gains won seem to be evaporating. And the threat of a terrorist state actually arising in Iraq seems all too real."

DAVID IGNATIUS: Well, as we sensed in your interview with Governor Romney, there's more than enough blame to go around. And this is a crisis that's so severe that the blame game in our domestic politics I think is unfortunate. I'm always reminded of something that Prince Turki, who was the head of Saudi intelligence said to me about five years ago.

And he said, "I hope you Americans will be as careful in how you get out of Iraq as you were uncareful in how you got in." And unfortunately, as I look at this, we were wrong on both ends. We came in and knocked the pegs out from under the way that society had been governed, and we left before new stability mechanisms were in place. And we're seeing the consequences of that today. Iraqi government basically is collapsing.

Of course no one asked Ignatius just how many more decades he thought we ought to be occupying that country before that might happen.

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