The Troubles in Iraq and Syria

The region is obviously in turmoil, it's going through one of the worst phases in its turbulent history. If you guys had gotten that right in the first instance, would we be in a different position now? No doubt. That doesn't mean there wouldn't be problems. But I think in Iraq, there was a stable force for good,. The contestation and struggle without coming to some accommodation with each other has provided ungoverned spaces and conditions in which extremism grew.