Fourteen years ago this morning, hell flew out of the clear blue skies careening into tall buildings in New York City, careening into the Pentagon, and careening into a field in Pennsylvania.

We have been at war ever since. The monstrous acts this day fourteen years ago led to the toppling of a regime in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Today, the left says if only George W. Bush had not invaded Iraq, ISIS would not exist. If only Al Qaeda had not attacked the United States, ISIS would not have existed. For that matter, if only the Soviet Union had not invaded Afghanistan, ISIS would not exist because the Soviet invasion raised up the Mujahadeed that Osama Bin Laden joined that then inspired Al Qaeda that attacked us that led to war that led to toppling Saddam Hussein that led to a surge strategy and war fatigue that led to Barack Obama’s election that led to ISIS’s rise. If we want to play the game, if the Soviet Union had not invaded Afghanistan, Barack Obama would not have been elected. Behold the chain of history and how it weaves and dances in our minds.

But we should, just for a moment, concede the left’s point. Had George W. Bush not invaded Iraq, this would not have happened. That’s fine. Let’s play this game to its end.

Barack Obama saw what George W. Bush did and thinks he should not have done it. So Barack Obama decides just to wash his hands of it. He walks away from the battle field. He thinks it is not his problem. The Iraqi government makes clear through all the necessary channels that then still need American troops and Barack Obama refuses.

Barack Obama is the priest who walked past the man laying beaten and robbed in the ditch between Jerusalem and Jericho. He saw a country and trouble and he kept on moving. But a good samaritan never showed up. The robber returned and decided he could rob the priest’s flock too.

The left may have disagreed with George W. Bush, but they should not have ignored two towers falling on a clear day fourteen years ago. There are people in the world who want to kill us. They are evil. And the President of the United States, when confronted with the mess of his predecessor shows no leadership when he just walks away saying it wasn’t his doing. What he did by walking away was let evil run and grow and spread.

The refugee crisis, the dead boy on the European beach, and all the beheadings of Christians on the shores of the Mediterranean would not have happened had the Soviets not invaded Afghanistan in December of 1979. But they also would not have happened had the current, sitting President of the United States looked evil in the eye and fought, instead of bowing and averting his eyes.