President Bush inadvertently played right into the hands of bin Laden. The invasion of Afghanistan was justified: that was where bin Laden lived and al Qaeda had its training camps. The invasion of Iraq was not similarly justified. It was President Bush's unintended gift to bin Laden.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Soros argues Bushs Iraq invasion helped bin Laden despite the justified Afghanistan invasion.
- In plain terms
- The Iraq war unintentionally aided the enemy.
- What can you take from it?
- Unintended consequences in war can hurt strategic goals.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Did the Iraq war help or harm security?
- How do unintended effects shape policy?
Another view
This view simplifies complex geopolitical motivations.
More from George Soros
We are losing the values that have made America great. The destruction of the twin towers of the World Trade Center was such a horrendous event that it require…
Permalink to quote #48 War and occupation create innocent victims. We count the body bags of American soldiers; there have been more than 1000 in Iraq. The rest of the world also loo…
Permalink to quote #50 A full and fair discussion is essential to democracy.
Permalink to quote #47
Related quotes
There are those who propose that both sides remove all their forces from Germany. That's a silly idea. The Germans hate us; we couldn't think of removing our f…
Vasily ChuikovVasily Chuikov quote #2 As the hobbits are going up Mount Doom, the eye of Mordor is being drawn somewhere else. It's being drawn to Iraq. You know what? I want to keep it on Iraq. I …
Rick SantorumRick Santorum quote #4 'The greatest crime since World War II has been U.S. foreign policy.'
Ramsey ClarkRamsey Clark quote #9