It's been a disaster on almost every count - don't forget the damage done to US power and Western influence generally. The war has demonstrated the limitations of the US's overwhelming military advantage and has massively reduced its soft power across the world and caused enormous harm to the US economy. On top of that it has put back the cause of human rights and wasted enormous sums of money that could have been spent so much better elsewhere.

It is frightening how few of the original supporters of the war are prepared to admit they'd got it wrong. My greatest fear is that we now repeat the catastrophe by bombing Iran.

The latest fighting around Basra involving the Shia militias and government troops may be a new, dangerous phase in the conflict. The uneasy truce with Sadr and his Medhi army seems to be over.
For a couple of recent US responses to the 5th anniversary please see: http://laborview.blogspot.com/2008/03/mccain-winning-iraq.html McCain winning Iraq

Kevin Rennie

Good article from Antony Loewenstein. The Iraq War has been a disaster from day one, which is why so many of us opposed it since before it happened. What an absolutely monumental mess the US and its allies have made: millions of refugees, hundreds of thousands of deaths and casualties, the rise of militant Islamism in Iraq, the escalating civil war... for what gain?

Sure Saddam's dead and his horrible henchmen are gone, but is Iraq now and in the foreseeable future likely to be a better place for the war? I think not.

And I note that after five years they still haven't managed to find a single 'weapon of mass detruction'. The only mass destruction I can see has been the near total destruction of Iraqi society.

'The only mass destruction I can see has been the near total destruction of Iraqi society.'
That is all you are likely and want to see when you are in love with SBS/ABC. A little balance would be a breath of fresh air.

“ The Iraq War has been a disaster from day one, which is why so many of us opposed it since before it happened. “

Posted by CJ Morgan, Wednesday, 26 March 2008 9:41:42 AM


Now we know why CJ Morgan is so smart: he has a crystal ball!

We all know now that it has been a disaster; but CJ Morgan knew it would be a disaster before it started – “why so many of us opposed it since before it happened.”

The real disaster will come when the allies do pull out and we are flooded with illegals, as we were

The Balkans strife started in the mid nineties with no hope of NATO leaving soon.
East Timor's strife started in '98 when Habibi offered the Timorese a vote.
With the Timorese Prime Minster recently being shot I doubt that Australian Troops will be leaving soon.

I can also mention Palestine/Israel, Afghanistan, Cyprus, Korea, etc etc etc.

These conflicts take time to resolve and until there is a chance of an acceptable peace in these conflict zones it would be foolish to remove troops in either a peace making role or a peace keeping role.

All in all it is better to have Saddam and his son's gone even if it has meant ongoing strife.