Thursday, December 15, 2011

Iraq War is finally (mostly) over

BAGHDAD — America’s war in Iraq came to an unspectacular and deeply uncertain end Thursday at a ceremony held amid fortified concrete blast walls at Baghdad’s international airport, not far from a highway where U.S. troops first fought their way into the capital more than eight years ago.

There were speeches paying tribute to the fallen, promising that America would not abandon Iraq and warning of challenges ahead. A brass band played, and the flag that had flown over the headquarters of the U.S. mission here was lowered for the last time.

And that was it. No pronouncements of victory, no cheers or jubilation — only a profound sense that the war’s real reckoning is yet to come even as America’s part in it draws to a close.
Read the rest here.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I predict we'll be paying for the blowback and fallout from this escapade for another 30-50 years, at least. We're still dealing with our meddling in Iran from the 1950s.

Matthew M said...

I for one am glad we are out. We should have pulled out when President Bush declared victory.
What makes Americans and the American government think we can force feed our form of democracy down every ones throat? We tried it after WWII. Germany and Japan have democracy but not like ours. No other democracy in the world, that I know of is like ours. Even our neighbors in the Great White North don't have one like ours but no one is saying they aren't a democracy. We need to get over this "Manifest Destiny" mentality and let other countries determine their own fate.

Jason said...

The thing is, we're a republic. But we export this little false god named "democracy" because it's easier to control vassal states that way.