>> I think emotion and pain are going to blot out rational observance. But yes, one can look at history and see some horrific political decisions that were made by successive US govts, but in mitigation, while there is international disagreement & conflict it doesn't matter what choices govts make, they will always be open to criticism and folly in choice. <<

Agreed. There will always be struggles, and the best[1] course of action today may indeed lead to future problems. But, nobody knows until they get there.

[1] And mistakes were indeed made. That is a side-effect of having humans run the gov.