According to polls I have seen, most Americans now wish we had not invaded Iraq in 2003.

We lost lives and treasure, yet the reason given for the war—weapons of mass destruction—turned out to be a fabrication. No such weapons existed.

The reason proposed for our military campaign then became the chance to rid the country of a brutal dictator and establish democracy. Saddam Hussein was indeed destroyed. Democracy, however, appears a long shot.

Our foray into Afghanistan is far from a success story, but at least, as the country from which the terrorist attacks of 9/ll were launched, a basis existed for our military involvement. Some of our policies were unwise, and our belief in our power to change the country were unrealistic. However, an election with some rudiments of democracy, has occurred, albeit with the usual complaints of fraud.

Now Iraq is again on our radar screen, in a spillover from the Syrian tragedy.

We have invested heavily in that part of the world. Our past mistakes almost guarantee that whatever we do there in the near future has minimal chance for success. Whoever touches the region most likely will suffer political fallout because we tend to demand perfect solutions, and none exists in this case.

Give weapons to the moderate forces in Syria? How do we keep the weapons from falling into the hands of the region’s extremists, as may be happening now in Iraq. Once provided, weapons cannot be recalled like peanut butter jars from a factory that we discover has sprouted salmonella.

Neither can our past foreign policy mistakes.