Western war advocates should face consequences for their consistently wrong predictions about Middle East interventions
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/owen-jones. "Even the neocons have turned against wars in the Middle East | Owen Jones | The Guardian." April 15, 2026. www.theguardian.com
The Gist
Jones argues that the people who pushed for disastrous Middle East wars should face real consequences for being so wrong, since millions died because of their bad advice. He says it's unfair that war critics were attacked while war supporters kept their jobs and influence even after being proven completely wrong.
Conclusion
There should be meaningful consequences and accountability for political and media figures who consistently advocated for disastrous Middle East wars despite being repeatedly wrong about their outcomes
Premises
- Pro-war advocates have been consistently wrong about major military interventions, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and Iran
- The costs of these wrong predictions have been enormous - measured in millions of deaths, destruction, and regional chaos
- Even prominent neoconservatives like Robert Kagan now admit that US intervention fueled the very terrorism it claimed to combat
- Those who correctly opposed these wars were vilified and marginalized at the time, while war advocates faced no professional consequences
- War advocates like Charles Krauthammer remained influential media figures despite their failed predictions, showing no elite accountability
- Without understanding how these policy disasters occurred, society cannot prevent similar catastrophes in the future
Assumptions
- Being consistently wrong about matters of war and peace should result in loss of credibility and influence
- Media and political establishments have a responsibility to hold advocates accountable for their predictions
- Public intellectuals and policymakers should face professional consequences for advocating policies that cause mass casualties
- Understanding past policy failures is necessary to prevent future ones