Whatever you need to tell yourself, dude. You're probably the first guy I've run into trying to defend Bush. Mistakes were made like Obama made mistakes droning multiple wedding parties and US civilians.
Yes, I feel pretty confident it was a mistake when President Obama's administration drone bombed the wedding, and not some nefarious secret plot.
I always think it's weird when people think the Government doesn't make mistakes. We could only wish for the level of competency some folks around here seem to think they possess in nefarious pots and secret conspiracies and multi-stage plans and sometime multi-year plans. all involving Government employees in key positions to enact parts of the plan.
I work with governments. When they make a mistake, it isn't simple. It's incompetence, laziness, and apathy.
Yes, and? I'd say it's fair to describe both the WMD in Iraq and the Wedding Party Drone attack as incompetence and possibly laziness and apathy.
My point being that when government makes mistakes, it's never innocent and simple. Government is full of sociopaths supported by legions of the lazy and incompetent. When a mistake happens it usually involves "leaders" doubling down on their stupid rather than acknowledging the mistake and fixing it.
I think that's probably true. I don't think doubling down on stupid makes one a war criminal.
Then what does?
We have an entire governmental structure that's almost completely protected by qualified and similar immunities. Nobody's ever held accountable, except occasionally a few low-level scapegoats. And you're saying when something truly horrible happens, it's not their fault.
People with the authority to kill other people need to be held to a higher standard, not to a standard so low it makes a dent in the floor.
There are a couple of things that can and should be done to fix this.
1. Term limits for every elected office. Every office. I'd prefer officeholder by random lottery, but that's a bridge too far.
1a. No revolving door of government, lobbying, and associated industry.
1b. No PACs, no donations by any organization. Individual donations only and only up to $1,000.
2. Mandatory shuffling of job assignments for career civil servants (i.e. you don't get to be the Chief Drone Bean Counter for Division A of Department 57 of Branch Zulu of the Federal Carbonpaper Quality Assurance Agency for the next 30 years, you have to move amongst federal agencies every couple of years since a financial analyst (in this example) should be competent to be one in any federal agency).
3. No qualified immunity. None. Not for law enforcement, not for politicians, not for judges.
4. Require law enforcement to have the same degree of training and licensure as lawyers, doctors, and engineers.
5. Tactical units for law enforcement *must* have actual combat experience or have been in a combat arms branch (infantry, MP, pararescue, etc.) No more fat cops involved in cosplay who are afraid of getting shot.
6. Prosecutors shall not be elected and using it as a stepping stone to a judgeship or higher elected office.
6a. They need to prosecute according to the law, not what they think they can convict on, not should they be allowed to plea bargain solely to obtain a "win.'
7. We're need to forcefully reject any and all attempts to move society to the left. Wanna smoke dope while having buttsex with three partners who dress up as they opposite sex? Do it on your own time, but you won't be allowed to promote it publicly in any way, shape, or form where you have undue influence over children or the public at large. This would secondarily eliminate the grifting involving Marxist organizations owned and operated by the family members of politicians being hired to do this by those same politicians.