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Major wars, along with scientific and technological inventions, have shaped the course of history. The world has witnessed two major wars within a generation and several small ones in the twentieth century, which has been the most destructive era so far. Despite the pain and suffering they cause, armed conflicts continue to ravage the world. The struggle for power and the decisions taken by top policy-makers are the decisive factors in most of them.

Take for example the decision by George W. Bush, the 43rd president of the United States, to wage a hugely unpopular war in Iraq and decision by Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, to support him in that adventure. Thirteen years after the U.S. invasion and four years after the last U.S. troop left the country, Iraq is still on the verge of fragmentation, and political killings and chaos have become routine. 

According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq, 2014 was the deadliest year since 2007 with 10,187 people killed and more than 16,000 injured. It is among the most risky countries in the fragile states index, ranking 12 out of 178.

Iraq today is also associated with the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), whose roots could be found amid the chaos and instability, rampant in Iraq since the U.S. invasion. Blair recently admitted as much during an interview with Fareed Zakaria of CNN on Oct. 25 and apologized for his mistakes with an excuse, saying, "The intelligence we received was wrong." He was not questioned over the allegations that the intelligence they received was in fact correct but doctored by the British civil servants under the intense pressure of his government.

His confession might have been valued more if it was not another...