Costs of their mistakes!

Justin Logan writes,

This paper proceeds in four parts. First, it shows the extent to which defense planners were focused on competition with China—not on the Middle East or small wars—in the 1990s through September 11, 2001. Second, it outlines the initial plans that emerged after the 9/11 attacks through the start of the war in Iraq as well as the public mood and the notable disjuncture between budgetary priorities and policy initiatives during the global war on terror. Third, it discusses the derailment of Bush’s freedom doctrine in the years from 2003 to 2009. Fourth, it describes the normalization of perpetual war during the Obama and Trump years, coupled with a restored focus on containing China. In conclusion, it highlights the extent to which the decade and a half following the attacks were a costly waste followed by no accountability. By 2021, Washington planners had returned to an emphasis on China, lost the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, contributed to the collapse of Libya and Syria, and held almost no one accountable for the immense costs of their mistakes.3

Read more here: https://www.independent.org/pdf/tir/tir_26_2_02_logan.pdf