"We never should have been in Iraq": sounds right to me!

Leonard Pitts Jr. of the Miami Herald writes that We never should have been in Iraq 10/28/2011:

We all know how that turned out. There were no weapons of mass destruction. Hussein had no connection to the events of Sept. 11. Nor did the war pay for itself. Nor did Iraqis strew rose petals in the path of American tanks. The things we were told on the route to war turned out to be untrue.

What is true is that we fought a war we did not have to fight. It cost as at least $806 billion and more than 36,000 American casualties, including 4,400 fatalities.

Tom Hayden also has a good piece about the end of the Iraq War: After Nearly Nine Years of War and Occupation, Obama to Withdraw All US Troops From Iraq Peace and Justice Resource Center 10/18/2011. While it's important to recognize that a significant American presence remains in Iraq that may bring more problems for the US, the war as such will end for the US with the withdrawal of combat troops this year. Tom calls it "a stunning and largely unexpected victory for the American peace movement and Iraqi opponents of the US occupation".

Tags: iraq war, tom hayden