25 years on, a tale of two wars

The current degree of death and destruction in the Middle East is reason enough to assess the first Iraq war, which was launched 25 years ago this Sunday. But any assessment of the ultimate impact of that conflict cannot be completed without looking at its sequel, the invasion of Iraq by the "Coalition of the Willing," in then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's words, in 2003. Because that sequel unleashed the current devastation.