Do you think War in Iraq was a mistake since a beginning?
922473
Bush was wrong from the beginning.\n\nSadam Hussein was a dictator and he deserved to be overthrown. But the idea of "teaching democracy" to Iraq was wrong and non-executable from the beginning. You cannot teach democracy from today to tomorrow. You cannot force democracy. The process of transformation should be slow and should be internally driven. You need wandering 40 years in the desert until a new generation grows up.\n\nAdditionally, the reason of existence of mass destruction weapons were entirely faulty. The only reason America went to was was controlling the oil of Iraq.
628138
Yes, knowing what we know now, this wasn't the solution.\nMuch more could have been achieved with less loss of lives and resources.\nThe real problem with Iraq is yet to emerge. This country is in complete disarray, there is nothing left. the moment the Americans leave, a civil war will break out, because there is no dominating or controlling force. In a normal revolution there is an organization, a plan, a people movement. Ideals, a bigger picture. But here?\nA better way would have been to work from the inside,to start up a movement, to feed them money, structure. To let that movement gain momentum, and so on. In the case of Iraq, maybe try to split up the country?
405988
Unfortunately, yes.\n\nIt wasn't worth it before the war... now, there's no choice.\n\nIraq was a tyranny, true, but it wasn't a threat for the rest of the world. The invasion destroyed the power structure of the country without stablishing a new one. If the US troops left the country, a true rogue state would appear. As our parents always say, if you break something you've either to fix it or to pay for it (maybe both).\n\nWhen the soviet troops left Afganisthan, they left behind a friendly government with a well-equipped army to fight against the rebels. We all know how it ended, and nobody wants Iraq to end like that.
804393
Not necessarily the ill advised invasion, but the handling of the whole damn thing is the reason for the civil war in Iraq. We should have never gone there in the first place as the invasion was based on a lie. However if we had made better decisions after we got there maybe we could have thwarted the civil war. The Generals have said since the beginning that we should have had more people and we should have disarmed everyone and secured the borders from outside influences, hind sight is better then foresight, but I think Rumsfeld was told there was a problem from the beginning.
876408
Obviously, this is a very subjective question.\n\nIf I were an Iraqi who mysteriously lost a loved one who was subsequently dug up in a mass grave years later by American troops - the answer is a resounding, yes.\n\nIf I am a critic of the war and feel, despite the overall conditions of the country under Saddam, that it was more "stable" before we ousted him, I would answer, no.\n\nBoth answers would be honest and the truth - depending on ones perspective.
85613
It wouldn't surprise me.\n\nA few years ago, who would have thought that the U.S. would invade Iraq, contrary to the U.N.'s stand on the issue?
336116
My answers is a serious one:  All nationalities are responsible for their own country, so Iraqis are responsible for their own country.  I think it was a huge mistake starting this insane war, and whatever reason was given by the President of the US, was wrong and would have to be amended.  Way to amend? GET OUT OF IRAQ!
1112740
I don't think the war should have happened to begin with. Yeah getting Saddam was a plus but so far it's been the only positive of going there. Now here we are a couple years later and we're still fighting. Saddam was a bad guy I'm not going to deny that but we didn't go over there to remove him from power. We were supposed to find WMD's and regardless of what you hear, no WMD's were found. Yes there was some mustard gas found but it was over 15 years old and it wouldn't have done anything. Now we're stuck in a terrible situation. We totally destroyed a country and now we're going to be there for a long time trying to rebuild what we tore down. We need to get out of there.
141801
Yes.\nIt cost thousands of lives,hundreds of billions of dollars,\nand lowered the standing of the U.S. in the international\ncommunity. Even when the war ends there will be a cost-the\npeace of mind of many who served,suffering from post-traumatic stress.\n All of this to confiscate Weapons of Mass Destruction that\nnever existed.\n Invading Iraq was a colossal mistake.
701076
No but unfortunatly we are all caught up in it........There have been a lot of fools in the Iraq war, the war that should have never been. Weapons of mass destrucition the only weapons that they had where cap guns.........it is a shame that so many people have had to die, just for one mans ego............
1072742
I honestly think the Military have been too patient for too long. Glad Im not Prime Minister as I would have levelled the place long ago.\n\nI realise war is not fair but the Iraqi people play upon our humanity very unfairly. We have been trying to help them against their own government/leaders and give them the freedom, education, rights, basics and respect that any human deserves and they repay our soldiers/troops with women and children acting as innocent civillians with bombs strapped to their chests and suicide bomb us. Thats just total bullsh*t! Those people are nothing but savages. Its not worth risking our troops lives for them.\n\nI would have either given all the Iraqi, Iranian, Afghanistan and any other nutty Muslim based country heaps of guns and ammunition and let them shoot themselves to death till theres only one left standing and go in and put that one out of its misery or just press the button that levels the area altogether.\n\nWhat a complete waste of time, money and human life this war has caused us (our Government, our troops, our families and our loss of loved ones!)
316210
This is kind of a wierd wording.  Any person with an ounce of compassion will say "I would like the war never to have begun."  I think it should have ended long ago.  In fact if you want to get into it that deeply, I don't think it should haev begun in the first place.  Don't get me wrong, I'm glad Saddam is out of power and I totally support our troops.  They are over there precisely so I can complain about them being over there all I want.  I think the US has gone a little far though.  Maybe it's just that the governments goal are not being successfully conveyed to the public through the media.  I don't really know.  I disagree with the war, but I see no real way to end it.\n\nSimply put, the war in Iraq should have already been ended.
377386
I'm embarassed.\n\nFirst of all--we lied to start a war that was not provoked against us.  It was actually nice having one country in the world that didn't kiss our butts and tell us what we wanted to hear.  I am in favor of free speech.  I believe Saddam Hussein became a target because he spoke too boldly against us.\n\nSecond of all--the rape of Baghdad was extremely disgusting.  By rape, I mean the archeological treasures of several millenia went on sale on ebay overnight.  It's a loss for the entire world.\n\nThirdly--the dismissal of the Iraqi army *insured* civil war.  Having no army leaves the state--democratically reformed or not--incapable of defending itself.  Why did we want this?  What were we thinking?  What is the goal here?\n\nFourthly--our fates are shared.  There is a connection.  To the extent that Iraq will be entrenched in civil war, America will be there as well.  The conservatives can't seem to back away from this war--such is their leadership, and they love their leaders dearly.  The liberals want to take responsibility for the wrong we have done.  America will be in Iraq for quite a while.\n\nIt's pretty sad, actually.  I hope Iraq pulls through, but it will never, ever be the same.
706633
I think that a bout of quickie wars led bush to believe that the war in Iraq would also be very swift. i think he would probably take a longer time before declaring war, which he has come to realize is a very long, heartbreaking thing, with no real winners.
928147
No.  The entire process was doomed from the beginning.  Besides the fact that the operation was poorly planned and executed, the people of Iraq have too many long standing ethnic/religious differences.  Just like eastern Europe under the Communist regimes, these differences were quelled by the strong-armed rule of Sadaam.  We are dreaming if we think that we will force middle eastern people to become like us.  They will not accept our religion or our western values.   They will have to work it out themselves with our support, not our intervention.
472915
Yes, it's a war.  You really want to know how and why it began?  Okay, here's a history lesson:\n Many people say it was President Bush who started this war, or that he's continuing his father's work. What started Desert Storm? Iraq invaded Kuwait, a U.S. ally. Kuwait in turn begged the UN for some help in eradicating the threat. The U.S. answered the call. When we pulled out, it was under the condition that Hussein would submit to occasional inspections to be sure that he did not have nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons capabilities. For a little over a decade, we were officially at a stasis. Unofficially though, we were firing on Iraq the whole time. Most of it was retaliation, for Iraqi approved attacks on Americans, or for the mass genocide we were well aware of. Some of it was to rid Iraq of Hussein, for both horrific acts. \nThen September 11th happened, and our policy had to change. The CIA (and other InterPol agencies that I can't recall right now) began receiving intelligence reports of suspicious activity in the Middle East, namely in Iraq. As a result, Hussein was warned that the UN needed to inspect for WMD's. He refused to let them in, and he threatened to retaliate if they tried. Before I continue, why would he do that? Think about it. Moving on. President Bush gave Hussein an ultimatum: "Let them in, or we attack!" Hussein said, yeah right, believe it when I see it. President Bush said, okay, if that's the way you want it...and he went to Congress and asked for their approval to attack Iraq. Once Congress was given the evidence, they voted with an overwhelming majority to go ahead with the attack. Then Bush went to the UN, and asked for their unity in order to rid the world of what was deemed a huge threat. Of course, they refused, all except Great Britain.\nSix weeks after the first inspection was refused, we attacked. SIX WEEKS. If Saddam had something to hide, is six weeks long enough to do so?\nGoing back just a little. The attack on Iraq had already been approved by the Clinton administration. Let me repeat that: ALREADY APPROVED, before Bush. President Bush asking Congress for approval on something they had already passed was only a formality, which he did not have to do.\nOkay, so what's the current situation in Iraq? No one knows, except those that are there. Again, NO ONE KNOWS!  I am a military spouse, so we have friends that are there now, and who have already served in the past couple of years. Some say it's awful, others say we're doing good. How do the Iraqis feel? Well, how many voted in their election? Their first REAL election in over twenty years. If the Iraqis were truly against us, wouldn't they be attacking U.S. soldiers? Not the insurgents, but regular Iraqi citizens?  Wouldn't more be aiding the insurgents? The fact that Iraqis are turning in the insurgents, saving many lives, says something doesn't it? \nOkay, as for the claim that this war is all about oil, it's half-right. Yes, it really is about oil...but not in the way that the people who make that claim think. I've had reports from people in Iraq that Saddam lived in opulence you can't even imagine. Gold and marble and ivory everywhere, 20 room palaces (note, I said PALACES, plural. He had several.)...meanwhile, down the road, maybe a mile away, there was a ten person family living in a one room shack. In absolute and total squalor. The U.S.'s homeless live a lot better, trust me. Hussein was starving his own people, making them go without electricity...and using the money from the oil to build his palaces. Yeah, that's fair. Sure. So we go in, and we seize the oil factories to turn over to the emerging Iraqi government. The Army is working to rebuild schools that have been damaged (many were damaged WAY before the U.S. occupied the country), repairing power lines, restoring clean drinking water...\nSo there you go.  Now you know.  I don't beli
213908
I think it was historically very necessary , though a lot of mistakes followed the wonderful destruction of Saddam and his cowered group who run away filled with fear hiding underground . The people there in Iraq deserves much of this sacrifice , keeping in mind , most of their misery was due to bad USA attitude in supporting Saddam and other\nprimitive regimens in arab world , without this support ,Iraqis possioly could at previous time get rid of this devil