Bush’s war in Iraq has done untold damage to the United States. It has impaired our military power and undermined the morale of our armed forces. Our troops were trained to project overwhelming power. They were not trained for occupation duties.

Soros argues that the Iraq War, as prosecuted under President George W. Bush, produced strategic and institutional harm beyond battlefield losses. In his view, the conflict depleted U.S. military readiness (“impaired our military power”) and eroded troop morale by placing soldiers in prolonged, ambiguous occupation and counterinsurgency roles rather than the conventional, high-intensity missions for which the force was primarily organized and trained. The quote reflects a broader critique that the war’s costs included opportunity costs—strain on personnel, equipment, and legitimacy—reducing America’s ability to deter or respond to other threats. It also implies a mismatch between political objectives and military doctrine, with damaging consequences for both effectiveness and public confidence.