Yes, it is true that there was no al-Qaida in Iraq when George
W. Bush took office. But it is equally true that there was
essentially no al-Qaida in Iraq remaining when Barack Obama took
office.  Which makes Bush responsible for the terrible costs
incurred to defeat the 2003-09 jihadist war engendered by his
invasion. We can debate forever whether those costs were worth
it, but what is not debatable is Obama's responsibility for the
return of the Islamist insurgency that had been routed by the
time he became president.    The result? "A sovereign, stable
and self-reliant Iraq." That's not Bush congratulating himself.
That's Obama in December 2011 describing the Iraq we were
leaving behind. He called it "an extraordinary achievement."
Which Obama proceeded to throw away. David Petraeus had won the
war. Obama's one task was to conclude a status-of-forces
agreement (SOFA) to solidify the gains. By Obama's own admission
-- in the case he's now making for a status-of-forces agreement
with Afghanistan -- such agre