Editorial
End of US military mission in Iraq
What sort of Iraq will its people inherit?
With the crossing of the last US military personnel from Iraq into Kuwait curtains were drawn on the US military mission in Iraq. The world's bloodiest war since Vietnam is officially over and so is the occupation of a sovereign country.
While we welcome the complete withdrawal of US troops from Iraq we find it is as good a time as any to ask what the purpose of the venture was and what has been achieved. That is the natural question that would occur in everyone's mind given that a sovereign country was under occupation for nearly nine years for an operation that cost the US people nearly a trillion dollars, nearly 4500 dead soldiers and 30 thousand wounded. 100000 dead is the closest approximation of Iraqi casualties. The actual figure is many times that.
The war in Iraq may be over for the US, is it so for the Iraqis. It is difficult to agree with the views of the US Secretary for Defence that the cost in both American and Iraqi lives has been worth the effort, which was to establish a stable government in a very important region of the world.
The reality on ground would suggest otherwise. And without appearing to be pessimistic it seems to us that except for the US aim of removing Saddam precious little have been achieved… even less of democracy and stability.
The Iraqi's have got their country back and we wish them well in their arduous task of addressing a legacy they will inherit, a legacy of political instability, a future that shows the signs of volatility because of sectarian drift and ethnic hiatus, not to speak of a truncated economy. However, given the resilience of the Iraqis we are sure that they will be able to tide over the adverse situation quickly.
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