A News Agency

Vance said, "I think many European countries were right about our invasion of Iraq. And frankly, if Europeans had been a little more independent and a little more willing to defend themselves, we could have saved the entire world from the military disaster that was the American occupation of Iraq."

In an interview with news agency UnHerd, Vance said it would have been in the interest of the U.S. for Europe to be more independent and to be able to warn the U.S. when it was on the wrong path, adding that Europe’s dependence on U.S. military protection in the foreseeable future would not be in the interest of either the U.S. or Europe.

Under George W. Bush’s administration, the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003 with the support of the so-called "coalition of the willing," mostly European countries.

The invasion was justified by referring to the alleged weapons of mass destruction in the possession of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, which were never found.

Both Vance and current U.S. President Donald Trump are among those who believe the war was a mistake.

Some European countries, especially France and Germany, strongly and actively opposed the Iraq War. France refused to vote in the United Nations Security Council for the use of force against Iraq, and both France and Germany refused to support military action against Iraq at the NATO forum.

At the time, France’s opposition to the Iraq War caused serious tension in relations between France and the United States. This was reflected, among other things, in the fact that some U.S. Congressional cafeterias stopped serving "French fries" and instead began calling them "freedom fries."