Anniversaries are the perfect time to reflect on what can be learned from past experiences. Last Friday was one of those occasions: the one-year anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. With that in mind, here are some random thoughts about the last year:
– It’s not very difficult for a superpower to bomb an unarmed Third World government out of existence. What is difficult is to have the foresight to know how to restore peace to that country once it has been subjugated.
– Not one single justification for the Iraq war has proven to be true. We now know that Iraq did not possess weapons-grade uranium. There is no evidence of Iraqi involvement in the tragedy of 9/11. Chief arms inspector David Kay has stated that there never were weapons of mass destruction. CIA Director George Tenet has testified that the CIA never believed that there was an “imminent threat” from Iraq.
– The credibility of the United States with its former international partners seems to have been shattered.
– The war is a major drain on our economy. Of course the public doesn’t yet know how major since the war budget won’t be made public until after the election.
– One year after the war, the world is not safer.
Isn’t it time that someone is held accountable?
