Iraq and the iron maiden narrative

The Iraq debacle has soured national sentiment for war - in that respect we differ from the pre-1914 political climate. On the other hand, Europe had just experienced the disastrous Crimean War and yet it still blundered into WWI, perhaps because the narratives of the time worked like iron maidens, putting each of the European powers in a vise where, once certain things happened, the only possible conclusion was war. In the case of Iran we run the risk of an extremist response to an extreme provocation. Who the provoker and who the provoked is a moot point in the circumstances.

It seems likely the reasons for invading Iraq were both ideological and venal (certainly oil revenues were seen as part and parcel of the operation), but the invasion, no matter how altruistic in intent, is now widely perceived as unjust - a word that resonates especially powerfully in the Middle East. If we are to defuse the region we need to be far more pragmatic about it, for when extremism meets extremism the outcome is foreordained.