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The European balloon popped in 1914-18.

Not getting themselves in over their heads expending loads of money and blood is somehow a bad thing now? Historys proven the doubt right outside some really niche circles.

So is being in Iraq a bad thing or not? Is it balloon popping?

Being in Iraq is a bad thing, but it's also not a good sign if the pullout was forced due to lack of resources.

I'm not sure if you're acting obtuse or you genuinely don't understand the difference between not doing something stupid versus extracting yourself from a stupid situation.

If I jump off a building and land on the pavement and break both of my legs this does not mean the person who is watching me from the street is as foolish as me despite us both ending up in the same place. The reason why I am dumber than this fictional observer is that we have not taken the same route to get there and I now have broken legs

Well yeah, it can be both

Europeans left in the mid 1900's