Max Boot Revisits Iraq War, Says US Failed to Learn Its Lessons

American writer Max Boot has reassessed the Iraq war he once supported, concluding that the United States failed to achieve its objectives while Iran emerged with greater influence.

More than two decades after the invasion, Boot’s reflection revisits the gap between American ambitions and the war’s outcome. His assessment marks a departure from his earlier support for the conflict.

Boot argues that leaving Iraq did not mean the United States had absorbed the lessons of the war. His critique distinguishes between ending a military involvement and reckoning with the decisions behind it.

Iran’s strengthened influence is central to that assessment. For Boot, the war’s legacy is not simply one of unmet US goals, but also of gains for an American rival.