Iraq 5 Years Later: Mission Derailed

Wasn’t sure what to write or rant about here on the 5^th anniversary of our invasion of Iraq. I think many others will go into the reasons why this was a doomed venture from the start and probably state it more eloquently than I can. For more participating blogs, follow this Blogswarm link.

There were so many directions I could take—and then I saw this photo in the 3/16 "New York Times" that stuck with me.


The photo showed a funeral procession in Baghdad for Monthir Khalaf, a local soccer coach and a former member of the Iraqi national soccer team. That's his son, in tears holding a photo of his father. Monthir was killed the previous Thursday by gunmen, but I could find few other details. I can only assume he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, caught in the crossfire between Sunnis, Shiites and others taking advantage of the chaos in Iraq.

That’s when it struck me that the greatest casualty in this insane “liberation” has been average people like Monthir. When I say average, that includes both Iraqis and Americans. Shattered lives, wounded families, an emptiness in the home—that’s the legacy of our invasion. In America, it’s very much the same: a flag-draped coffin bears a soldier’s remains, a family is broken, a life cut short.

It’s all so senseless. From the few photos I’ve seen of Monthir, he appeared to be in the prime of his life. The same is true for the nearly 4,000 U.S. soldiers killed so far in Iraq (icasualties.org). One of those attended my church. I can remember when he was a junior high student, and I watched as he participated in church services and matured physically into a handsome young man who joined the Marines. He survived one tour of duty and then headed for another, one he never returned from. A mother’s only son, now dead at 21. All those unfulfilled dreams and promises and hopes and plans, just gone.

Iraqi or American—it’s the same. But the Iraqis have suffered so much more than we have here, safe across the ocean. According to IraqBodyCount, more than 80,000 Iraqis have lost their lives since we invaded. More than 80,000! That’s like an entire small American town, wiped out. Has this been worth it? Yes, we toppled Saddam Hussein, but we opened a Pandora’s box of unrest, hatred and rage that continues to claim lives five years later. We took out one man and 80,000 more along with him. For what? To prove something? Because we didn’t like him? We found no weapons of mass destruction. Saddam was a dick but he wasn’t a threat to us. Regardless of what the Bush administration says, we have not brought freedom and democracy to Iraqi. In our delusion, we have brought pain, suffering and death.

Where will it end? If we pull out our troops, it’s likely the killing will continue. However, I think I would have a bit more pride in my country knowing that we are no longer involved. The ancient hatred between Sunni and Shia that is overflowing is certainly not our doing, but we do have blood on our hands. That’s the tricky part. Like it or not, we have contributed to 80,000 Iraqi deaths. And no matter what we do next, those people are never coming back, nor are our soldiers.

When is it enough? When will we be satisfied? How many more U.S. soldiers have to die? How many more young Iraqi sons have to lose their fathers?