Iraq: Was the Mission Accomplished?

[bobbyw24]

For the Army and Marines who lost 4,500 dead and more than 30,000 wounded, many of them amputees, the second-longest war in U.S. history is over. America is coming home from Iraq.

On May 1, 2003, on the carrier Abraham Lincoln, the huge banner behind President George W. Bush proclaimed, "Mission Accomplished!

That was eight years ago. And so, was the mission accomplished?

Two-thirds of all Americans have concluded the war was not worth it.

And reading the description of Iraq from the editorial page of the pro-war Washington Post, who can answer yes?

"Al-Qaida continues to carry out terrorist attacks. Iranian-sponsored militias still operate, and a power struggle between Kurdish-ruled northern Iraq and Mr. Maliki's government goes on. More Iraqis worry that, after the U.S. troops depart this month, the sectarian bloodletting that ravaged the country between 2002 and 2007 will resume."

And not all the Americans are really coming home.

Some 16,000 will remain in the huge fortress that houses the U.S. embassy and in fortified consulates in Basra, Irbil and Kirkuk. All four sites will be self-sufficient, so U.S. personnel can stay clear of what The Wall Street Journal calls "the perilous security situation on Iraq's city streets."

http://goo.gl/ngNGg

[vita3]

Mission accomplished for Haliburton & Blackwater.

[bobbyw24]

Mission accomplished for Haliburton & Blackwater.

true

[Pericles]

Exactly - What was the mission?

[ExPatPaki]

Attacking Iraq never made any sense. Afghanistan makes sense (even without 9/11), but how did deposing Saddam serve America's geopolitical interests?

[bobbyw24]

Attacking Iraq never made any sense. Afghanistan makes sense (even without 9/11), but how did deposing Saddam serve America's geopolitical interests?

Great question

[vita3]

Anyone involved in the Heroin trade, can also stamp Mission Accomplished, in regards to Afghanistan.

I'm still amazed that no investigative reporter has given us a clear picture of who has benefited from the dramatic increase in opium production since our boots got on the ground.

[Dr.3D]

If they were trying to kill Sadam, then it would make sense the mission was accomplished when he was hanged. So why did they hang around there after that was done?

[heavenlyboy34]

Attacking Iraq never made any sense. Afghanistan makes sense (even without 9/11), but how did deposing Saddam serve America's geopolitical interests?

War profiteering?

[vita3]

Seriously man, the business of war needs to be a new subject in the American educational system.

[bunklocoempire]

Mission? Iraq? War? It's over again?

I know of a former soldier now doing contract work over there, and somebody I know knows someone who was killed in Iraq... but really, how does this have anything to do with me?

I'm not seeing any caskets on the news every night, there aren't any scrap drives or pushes for victory gardens, I've never even heard a definition of "winning". *shrug*

I heard Stearn is going to be a judge on the idol or got talent... and Sandra Bullock wore a pant suit... Bill O sez there's a Christmas war...

/sarcasm. Some real sad sarcasm and too much truth.

[QueenB4Liberty]

Yeah, more harm than good was gotten out of the war in Iraq, if you can argue for any good at all. The military industrial complex profited, not many else did.

[bobbyw24]

Seriously man, the business of war needs to be a new subject in the American educational system.

indeed

[Toureg89]

Saddam, the Baathists, and their statist "nation-state" government came to power 2 decades AFTER British withdrawal, which also resulted in 2 Persian Gulf Wars, and then at least another decade of authoritarian regime.

you are asking if we can for-tell 5 decades into the future whether or not Iraq will fall into authoritarianism again?

if you mean the original mission of fining WMDs, obviously not.

if you mean installing a democatic republic with no unintended consequences, only time will tell (history has shown otherwise, though).

[Krugerrand]

Mission accomplished for Haliburton & Blackwater.

clicked on thread to make that exact same statement.