<P> Both supporters and opponents of the Iraq War widely viewed it within the context of a post--11 September world, where the U.S. has sought to make terrorism the defining international security paradigm . Bush often described the Iraq War as a "central front in the war on terror". Some critics of the war, particularly within the U.S. military community, argued pointedly against the conflation of Iraq and the war on terror, and criticized Bush for losing focus on the more important objective of fighting al - Qaeda . As Marine Lieutenant General Greg Newbold, the Pentagon's former top operations officer, wrote in a 2006 Time article, "I now regret that I did not more openly challenge those who were determined to invade a country whose actions were peripheral to the real threat--al - Qaeda ." </P> <P> Critics within this vein have further argued that containment would have been an effective strategy for the Saddam government, and that the top U.S. priorities in the Middle East should be encouraging a solution to the Israeli--Palestinian conflict, working for the moderation of Iran, and solidifying gains made in Afghanistan and Central Asia . In an October 2002 speech, Retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni, former head of Central Command for U.S. forces in the Middle East and State Department's envoy to the Israeli--Palestinian conflict, called Iraq "maybe six or seven," in terms of U.S. Middle East priorities, adding that "the affordability line may be drawn around five ." However, while commander of CENTCOM, Zinni held a very different opinion concerning the threat posed by Iraq . In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee in February 2000, Zinni said: "Iraq remains the most significant near - term threat to U.S. interests in the Persian Gulf region . This is primarily due to its large conventional military force, pursuit of WMD, oppressive treatment of Iraqi citizens, refusal to comply with United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCR), persistent threats to enforcement of the No Fly Zones (NFZ), and continued efforts to violate UN Security Council sanctions through oil smuggling ." However, it is important to note that Zinni specifically referred to "the Persian Gulf region" in his Senate testimony, which is a significantly smaller region of the world than the "Middle East", which he referred to in 2007 . </P> <P> Besides arguing that Iraq was not the top strategic priority in the war on terrorism or in the Middle East, critics of the war also suggested that it could potentially destabilize the surrounding region . Prominent among such critics was Brent Scowcroft, who served as National Security Advisor to George H.W. Bush . In a 15 August 2002 Wall Street Journal editorial entitled "Don't attack Saddam", Scowcroft wrote that, "Possibly the most dire consequences would be the effect in the region...there would be an explosion of outrage against us...the results could well destabilize Arab regimes", and, "could even swell the ranks of the terrorists ." In an October 2015 CNN interview with Fareed Zakaria, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair apologized for his' mistakes' over Iraq War and admitted there were' elements of truth' to the view that the invasion helped promote the rise of ISIS . </P> <P> As pointed out by Hayder al - Khoei, the Iraq was already "destined for chaos" before 2003: </P>

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