The mission in Iraq wasn’t accomplished when President George W. Bush made one of his most famous missteps in 2003, but by the time he left office, Iraq was seemingly on its way to becoming a model Middle Eastern nation. It was a status forged with the generous assistance of American troops to provide security and keep the remnants of the once-fearsome al-Qaida at bay.

Yet less than five years later the nation is once again in the grip of a religious sectarian war, with al-Qaida targeting Shi'ites, the Islamic sect mainly represented in the current Iraqi government. Since American troops left the country in 2011, the pace and scope of violence – including car and suicide bombings, prison breaks freeing hundreds of formerly detained al-Qaida members, and other random violence – has accelerated to a point where 700 or more Iraqis have perished each month in attacks since April. Moreover, al-Qaida is strongest in the western part of the country, affording the group easy access to intercede in the Syrian war as well.

Obviously the vacuum left by the departure of American troops has been filled by al-Qaida, which as a group was “on a path to defeat,” according to Barack Obama. If that path meanders through the undoing of what thousands of American troops accomplished at the cost of much blood and treasure, Obama doesn’t seem to mind.

Under this regime, America is quickly transitioning to the position of weakness we had prior to 9/11; meanwhile, Iraqis, once optimistic, are still looking for stability after a decade. It’s a sad state of affairs for a country that had such high hopes half a decade ago.