We were committed to failure in Iraq the minute we engaged in a war with ambitious goals with only limited numbers of troops. We failed when we removed an authoritarian ruler and replaced him with a series of powerless leaders. We failed when we believed we could grow an authentic democracy without providing any of the essential requirements (like reliable energy, security, etc) in a country unfamiliar with the concept. Our own military was leery of the idea of going in with fewer boots on the ground than any previous conflict. In short everything we did, aside from the actual battles resigned us to this fate.

The only question is, did we do this intentionally, to depress Iraqi oil output and preclude others from accessing, or did our leader ship honestly think their strategy would work. If they really only had in mind sowing chaos in the ME, the strategy worked. I will retract my statement and say this war was a success. If not, this has been a miserable conflict and will ultimately be judged a failure by the historical record.