[h=1]Was the Iraq Invasion Worthwhile? Ask an Iraqi[/h] By Jeffrey Goldberg - Apr 8, 2013 Bloomberg EXCERPT:
In a recent interview with the New York Times, the writer Toni Morrison said, I dare you to tell me a sane reason we went to Iraq.
Her request is not unreasonable. Weve heard similar arguments a lot over the past few weeks, as we marked the 10th anniversary of the war. There is widespread agreement that the American invasion of Iraq was provoked by a series of lies, neuroses, venalities and delusions.
<<<SNIP>>>Today, Salih is the chairman of the board of the American University of Iraq in Sulaimani, which provides a liberal education in a place not previously known for such a phenomenon. In recent years, Salih has served as both the deputy prime minister of Iraq and as prime minister of the Kurdish regional government. He was in the camp of people who argued that Saddams decision to commit genocide against Iraqi Kurds (sometimes with chemical weapons) in the late 1980s made his removal a moral imperative.
I asked him if he thought the invasion was worth it.
From the perspective of the Kurdish people -- and I dare say the majority of the Iraqi people -- it was worth it, he said. War is never a good option, but given our history and the brutality of Saddams regime, it may have been the only other option to end the genocidal campaign waged by Saddam against the Kurds and other communities in Iraq.
Here is where his answer became a lament. I must admit, however, that 10 years on, Iraqs transition is, to say the least, characterized by unrealized expectations, both for Iraqis and for our American liberators. Iraq is not the friendly democracy that the U.S. had hoped for, and it is far from the secure, inclusive democracy that Iraqis deserved and aspired to.
<<<SNIP>>>All Iraqis lived under a regime that had complete disdain for human life, he said. Executions and killings continued at will. Thousands of Iraqis were being sent to the mass graves. The Kurds were never safe as they knew that Saddam could at any time decide to reconquer the no-fly zone.
In a recent interview with the New York Times, the writer Toni Morrison said, I dare you to tell me a sane reason we went to Iraq.
Her request is not unreasonable. Weve heard similar arguments a lot over the past few weeks, as we marked the 10th anniversary of the war. There is widespread agreement that the American invasion of Iraq was provoked by a series of lies, neuroses, venalities and delusions.
<<<SNIP>>>Today, Salih is the chairman of the board of the American University of Iraq in Sulaimani, which provides a liberal education in a place not previously known for such a phenomenon. In recent years, Salih has served as both the deputy prime minister of Iraq and as prime minister of the Kurdish regional government. He was in the camp of people who argued that Saddams decision to commit genocide against Iraqi Kurds (sometimes with chemical weapons) in the late 1980s made his removal a moral imperative.
I asked him if he thought the invasion was worth it.
From the perspective of the Kurdish people -- and I dare say the majority of the Iraqi people -- it was worth it, he said. War is never a good option, but given our history and the brutality of Saddams regime, it may have been the only other option to end the genocidal campaign waged by Saddam against the Kurds and other communities in Iraq.
Here is where his answer became a lament. I must admit, however, that 10 years on, Iraqs transition is, to say the least, characterized by unrealized expectations, both for Iraqis and for our American liberators. Iraq is not the friendly democracy that the U.S. had hoped for, and it is far from the secure, inclusive democracy that Iraqis deserved and aspired to.
<<<SNIP>>>All Iraqis lived under a regime that had complete disdain for human life, he said. Executions and killings continued at will. Thousands of Iraqis were being sent to the mass graves. The Kurds were never safe as they knew that Saddam could at any time decide to reconquer the no-fly zone.
