As we all now know, there were no such weapons. And in that sense, the war, which was launched by George W. Bush, began as a fraud. But the price we paid was very real: Almost seven and a half years of combat, more than 4,400 Americans dead, more than 35,000 wounded, and more than $700 billion spent by U.S. taxpayers.

But in his speech, President Obama let President Bush off the hook for all of that…

We did manage to hang Saddam Hussein, who, in the end, looked like somebody’s ditzy, pajama-clad grandfather. Yes, he was a terrible dictator. But how many terrible dictators does America do business with every day?

And was the price of getting rid of him worth it? President Obama did not say.