And no, I did not read Mr Zakaria's remarks before I wrote my "palefaces" post, below. Great minds do think alike.

But unfortunately, the laws of unexpected consequences and missed opportunities work both ways, and "Who lost Iraq?" is going to cost the Democrats politically; we will see a return to a Neocon foreign policy, and its bedfellow, right wing economics, in the near future. Taxes will go up, TPers, but not to worry, it will be to pay for weapons, not for the 47%. Hillary just lost the election, before she even ran for office.

There will be a bloodbath in Iraq, and it will be the beginning of a great schism in Islam: Shia Iran/Iraq/Syria vs the Sunni states, which is pretty much everybody else. Iran will benefit most from this, not an unexpected consequence since Bush the Younger effectively eliminated its only counter in the region. There will be war, religious war, and it may last for decades. The only good that may come out of it is that the conflict might temporarily leave the West off the hook, on the sidelines--at least, until it resolves itself.

Lessons to be learned from this? Yes, it is possible to change the course of history. You just can't predict where the new path is going to lead you.