Is Iraq a success?

[unkachuck]

December 8, 2009

Over 125 killed, over 400 injured today in Baghdad. Some claim Iraq is our blueprint for counter-insurgency success in Afghanistan. Do you believe Iraq is a success?

[timeforpeace]

1. Just because Obama is the president now is no reason to suggest it's not a success anymore.

[The Gunslinger]

7. It never was a success in the first place.

[HopeHoops]

2. If you consider driving a school bus full of children into a swamp and being the only survivor...

... a success, then I guess you could construe Iraq to be less than a complete fucking failure. If so, you've got a chance of getting on Fox Noise.

[Lasher]

3. Define success.

If you don't know where you're going you will probably never get there.

[StarfarerBill]

4. Ethnic, sectarian, and political divisions have not been addressed nearly sufficiently.

As the occupiers leave the combatants come back together again, bloodily. It remains for the Iraqis to choose their own course; while that may be violent initially, they and we can hope that, free of the occupation, they can talk and arrange a settlement for all concerned.

Afghanistan will in all likelihood suffer a similar fate, during and after their occupation. Hopefully they too can find a way to negotiate with words, not bullets, after the invaders depart.

[Viking12]

5. In what respect, Charlie?

[unkachuck]

6. conservatives in both parties....

....point to Iraq as to what could be done in Afghanistan to win the hearts and mind of the people. After 7 years of war, thousands of our soldiers lost and almost a trillion dollars spent this is all we have to show for our efforts (minus oil contract signings in a day or two).

....today demonstrates to me that Iraq is a work in progress and is hardly worth emulating....

[Viking12]

12. I agree. You're right. Iraq is nothing to be showing off.

I'm just being a smart ass.

[SmileyRose]

8. Where's the "Oh HELL no" option?

unless by success you mean we successfully locked up Iraq's oil for friends of Bushco.

[XemaSab]

9. Get back to me in 10 years

:P

[Arctic Dave]

10. If you think murdering people is a success then I guess so.

[Thickasabrick]

11. 120 fresh mangled innocents just today.....I would say no. nt

[branders seine]

13. Over 100,000 people dead for nothing,

except to increase the wealth of the US oligarchy. Trillions of taxpayer dollars wasted for nothing, except to keep us from providing the domestic programs needed to keep our country great.

Our military broken beyond all repair for nothing, except to help implement the neocon vision of privatized American military hegemony.

Destruction of the most stable secular state in the region for nothing, period.



This is the worst foreign policy failure in modern history.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

14. Since you mention that "some claim Iraq is our blueprint for counter insurgency"

I'll assume that's what you mean by "success" then. My answer is no. Our invasion and subsequent occupation fed the terrorist agenda and found them an entire new base of recruits.

It was a success in terms of destabilizing oil prices and making billions for the oil barons though. It also was a success for making billions of dollars for companies such as Halliburton who feasted on their no bid contracts like caviar. I'd also have to say it was a success for the anti-American forces in the world. If not for Bush's "War President" platform he never would have won in 2004.

[baldguy]

15. If I burned your house down & left you homeless, would you thank me?

[anigbrowl]

16. Yes.

It sucks that a shitload of people got killed there today. Terrorism always sucks, But in case you hadn't noticed, we aren't fighting the Iraqis any more and US casualties in Iraq are now very low and mostly from accidents and things like that instead of gunfire and IEDs.

In other words, I think the policy of the US in Iraq since the beginning of this year has been more or less successful. Things have de-escalated considerably overall (although there are exceptions like today) and compared to the picture 2 years ago it's massively different. We should not have invaded in the first place, but given the situation it inherited, the administration has handled things very well.