Back when American conservatism was actually a body of thought, and not just an apologia for Donald Trump’s racism and narcissism, conservatives liked to warn against the unintended consequences of governmental activism.
That said, some of the most catastrophic unintended consequences of governmental activism to have befallen us came from the governmental activism of conservatives themselves.
I was reminded of this by yesterday's New York Times story on how Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is planning to designate a number of Iraqi political parties and governmentally supported militias as terrorist organizations due to their close relationship to the Iranian government. Of course, these close relations with (and, in many cases, dependence on) Iran are the direct result of the George W. Bush administration’s decision to overthrow Saddam Hussein, sworn enemy of Iran, and replace him with what inevitably would be a majority-Shiite Iraqi regime which, as a matter of course, would have close ties to Shiite Iran. Critics of the imbecilic decision to go to war in Iraq, including the editors of the Prospect, loudly pointed this out at the time, but go to war we did.
So, this wasn't just an unintended consequence; it was a foreseeable unintended consequence. Gotta give W credit where credit is due.
