Carl Remick wrote:
>
>
> I still think it was a mistake for the US to have pursued a military rather
> than a legal remedy post-9/11, both because of the continuing "collateral
> damage" in Afghanistan and because of the precedent Afghanistan sets for
> major US military offenses in Iraq and elsewhere.
Mistake? Who in the U.S. government cares about that collateral damage? And the greatest advantage (unless we succeed in taking it away from them) the U.S. government achieved in the Afghanistan war was precisely to set a precedent for further U.S. military campaigns.
It will turn out to be a mistake if and only if it generates huge resistance to U.S. policy both at home and abroad.
Your use of the word "mistake" suggests that the U.S. ruling class is well-intentioned and did not want to set a precedent for further offenses.
Carrol