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History will sort things out in the end, but the original architects of US military involvement in Iraq are having an 鈥淚 told you so鈥� moment as the Obama administration scrambles to deal with an Islamist insurgency that鈥檚 sent the Iraqi army fleeing and threatens a divisive government propped up by US influence.

But wait, comes the push back: You guys took us to war based on weak (or concocted) evidence, so who are you to complain?

That reasoning hasn鈥檛 given pause to the likes of former vice president Dick Cheney. Together with his daughter Liz, Mr. Cheney wrote in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed: 鈥淩arely has a US president been so wrong about so much at the expense of so many.鈥�

鈥淏eing on the wrong side of听Dick Cheney听is being on the right side of history,鈥� Senate Majority Leader听Harry Reid responded last week on the Senate floor. 鈥淭o the architects of the Iraq war who are now so eager to offer their expert analysis, I say thanks but no thanks.鈥�

鈥樷�楾he only thing I want to hear from Iraq war architects is an apology,鈥欌�� Sen. Reid tweeted.

Not all the push back is coming from Obama officials and supporters.

鈥淚 think the same questions could be asked of those who supported the Iraq War,鈥� Sen. Rand Paul said on NBC鈥檚 鈥淢eet the Press鈥� Sunday. 鈥淵ou know, were they right in their predictions? Were there weapons of mass destruction there? Was the war won in 2005, when many of those people said it was won?鈥�

Sen. Paul also accused supporters of the war in Iraq of 鈥渆mboldening Iran.鈥�

鈥淭ime and time again, history has proven that you got it wrong as well, sir,鈥� Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly told Cheney during an interview.
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Appearing on ABC鈥檚听鈥淭his Week鈥� Sunday,听the former VP defended himself.

鈥淚f we spend our time debating what happened 11 or 12 years ago, we鈥檙e going to miss the threat that is growing and that we do face,鈥� Cheney said. 鈥淩and Paul, with all due respect, is basically an isolationist. He doesn鈥檛 believe we ought to be involved in that part of the world. I think it鈥檚 absolutely essential.鈥�

Since polls show most Americans believe the US invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003 was a mistake to begin with, they鈥檙e unlikely to be swayed by the criticisms of Obama by Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, and听 other Bush administration alums.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a tone-deaf quality to it,鈥� James Mann at Johns Hopkins University, author of 鈥淩ise of the Vulcans: The History of Bush鈥檚 War Cabinet,鈥� told Bloomberg News . 鈥淭he strategic mistake since going into Iraq was all theirs. The mistake was going in.鈥�

For some Republicans, there鈥檚 also concern that refighting the war 鈥� including the Obama administration鈥檚 withdrawal of US combat troops from Iraq in 2011 鈥� is not necessarily good for the party.

鈥淲henever the conversation is on Iraq, it鈥檚 not good news for Republicans,鈥� John Ullyot, a GOP strategist and former Senate aide, told The Hill newspaper. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not helped at all over the last week by a bunch of people who we hadn鈥檛 heard from in several years 鈥� Republican figures associated with Iraq from the Bush administration 鈥� who were suddenly back on major shows discussing the current state of affairs in Iraq. It was not a helpful reminder.鈥�

鈥淭he fact that [Cheney] came out swinging the other day is disappointing to some Republicans because it does nothing but encourage people to remember that this was Bush鈥檚 war,鈥� Steven Smith, a political science professor at Washington University in St. Louis, told The Hill. 鈥淪o they do risk putting themselves into a position where on one of the few salient issues of the day they鈥檙e not on the right side.鈥�