Well..... I certainly don't agree that America is to blamed for anything other than stupid decision making and bad intel when it came to Iraq. The ongoing morass that is Iraq can be blamed for inciting even more extremism and I do believe that it is next to impossible to reduce the radicalist hatred that is harbored against us as long as we stay in Iraq with 160,000 troops. There absolutely is a cause and effect when it comes to that and it is nothing but right-wing tunnel vision not to ackowledge it.
I refuse to believe that US foreign policy interests can be determined or better formulated by polling the views of militant Islamic radicals.... Further, if I recall correctly, they were plotting and executing the murders of innocent men, women and children of US and its allies well before the Iraqi invasion....the notion that they will magically discontinue their murderous ways after the departure of US troops is foolish and naive at best.
My stance and that of many others is that we provide the perfect extremist recruiting tool by occupying Iraq. I hear what you are saying BT and in Afghanistan there was no choice. In the case of Iraq it was all Bush/Cheney's choice.
....as it was when FDR made the choice to invade North Africa as the first introducton of US ground forces during WWII. It is a bigger world today and global terror is a big problem......the notion that we get our arms around the global terror problem simply by toppling the Taliban in Afghanistan is ridiculous. The easy way out is rarely, if ever, the best way....
"as it was when FDR made the choice to invade North Africa as the first introducton of US ground forces during WWII." I respectfully disagree with that BT.