"Iraq: 23 Years of War, Lies and Defeat"

Photo credit: Reuters

"Iraq: 23 Years of War, Lies and Defeat"

by Redacted

"The U.S. military has left Iraq after a 23-year military invasion. The Pentagon says that these troops will relocate to other Middle East bases to assist in the ongoing war with Iran. Why was the U.S. in Iraq in the first place? The Bush administration invaded in March 2003, claiming Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction and warning that his government could provide them to terrorists. Administration officials also repeatedly invoked the trauma of September 11, encouraging a public perception that Iraq was connected to al-Qaeda and the attacks.

The central case for war collapsed. U.S. investigators found no active stockpiles of the weapons used to justify the invasion, and subsequent inquiries found no operational partnership between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda. Although American forces quickly overthrew Saddam, his sudden exit from power created the perfect conditions for ISIS.

U.S. war hawks will say that the U.S. and Israel destroyed ISIS but the truth is that Iran was integral in combatting ISIS, particularly Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force, who the Trump administration assassinated in 2020.

It was a failed and bloody mission that accomplished nothing. And now, as troops withdraw, Shiite militias are claiming victory the same way the Taliban reclaimed Afghanistan when the U.S. military withdrew in 2021. This withdrawal should serve as a reminder that the war in Iraq was based on a lie and reinforce our conviction that the war in Iran is too. How many lives must be lost before another humiliating withdrawal?"

- https://redacted.inc/

"During an episode of 60 Minutes, journalist Lesley Stahl asked Secretary of State Madeleine Albright about reports that 500,000 Iraqi children had died - surpassing the child death toll at Hiroshima - as a result of U.S.-led economic sanctions following the Gulf War. Stahl asked, "Is the price worth it?"  Albright replied, "I think this is a very hard choice, but the price - we think the price is worth it."

And this is who and what we are, America, 

an Evil, horrifying and unspeakable disgrace...

- CP