This will change how you think about the Iraq War.

In 2003, a small coalition of countries led by the United States invaded Iraq, at the time ruled by the autocratic Saddam Hussein. While supporters and planners of the invasion hoped to establish a liberal democracy in Iraq, their mission rapidly became a quagmire that left hundreds of thousands of Iraqis dead, and gave birth to a corrupt and unstable regime that has failed to provide Iraqi citizens with security or prosperity. But to understand why America failed in its project of nation-building, it’s necessary to examine the decades leading up to the invasion, as well as the weeks and months following it. From military planning to international sanctions, political purges and serious administrative blunders, the answer emerges.

Spectacles is a love letter to democracy, its values, its caretakers, and its ideas. Around the world, individual rights and representative government are facing unprecedented attacks from the forces of reaction and revisionism. But despite liberal democracy’s real shortcomings and today’s all-too-fashionable cynicism, we remain committed to its preservation and improvement. Join us as we explore just what liberal democracy is, how it comes about, and how it can best be maintained in a changing world.
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Chapters:

00:00 INTRO
01:13 GHOST OF VIETNAM
03:31 BILL? NOT BUSH?
05:45 RULE BY DECREE
08:24 ECHOES OF OCCUPATION