The point is that the invasion of Iraq itself could easily be considered a righteous act. The aftermath has been dreadful, no doubt, but that was not the intent

The point is that the invasion of Iraq itself could easily be considered a righteous act. The aftermath has been dreadful, no doubt, but that was not the intention, and when making moral judgements intention of the judged is ultimately what matters most. The US has repeatedly underestimated how hard it is for functioning democracies to flourish, and that is a critical error on its part that it must learn from going forward.