The Iraq war is over.

[xiphias]

This deserves celebration, but it's hard to feel celebratory about it. I suppose some good was done, in that Saddam Hussein was gotten rid of, but the cost was far too high -- not just in money and lives, but in honor, international respect, and trust.

It's hard to call it a victory. Or a loss. It's just the end of a mistake.

Which is better than continuing a mistake, anyway.

Comments

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

What deserves celebration, to my mind, is the pullout. Not the war. Pulling out IS a victory within American politics.

I'm still not feeling especially celebratory about it. My main emotional responses are relief that it's over, and grief for all the lives lost.

[whuffle.livejournal.com]

Citation please on the statement that the Iraq war is over? I haven't been paying attention to the news feeds.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

US flag ceremony ends Iraq operation

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/16/world/middleeast/panetta-in-baghdad-for-iraq-military-handover-ceremony.html?_r=1&hp

It's the front page of the New York Times.

It's a small sidebar on USA Today.

It's not on the headline of the Boston Herald at all.

[gingicat]

Better than continuing the mistake, definitely.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

Yeah. *sigh*

[wotyfree.livejournal.com]

It's not over. We're just abdicating responsibility again.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

We never had responsibility in the first place.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Let me expand on that:

Iraq didn't want us there in the first place. Eventually, they grudgingly accepted our presence, but still wanted us gone as soon as possible. Now, we've finally agreed to leave.

We're not abdicating responsibility, because our only responsibility was to get out. It's like, we went into their house, and broke a bunch of their stuff, and puked on their rug, and then, we kinda sobered up, and tried to clean the puke up, but managed to set the rug on fire while doing so, and then we backed up their toilet, and the Iraqis kept saying, "look, dude, why don't you just go home," and we kept saying, "No, no, it's cool, I'll just clean that up for you," and breaking more shit while we were saying that . . .