War, what is it good for?

Absolutely nothing.

The song called 'War' by Edwin Starr, was written about the Vietnam War, but I think it's especially appropriate now that we've officially ended the War in Iraq.  The last of the troops were pulled out of Iraq this week after nearly 9 years. And what have we really accomplished in our time there? 4,500 Americans dead, tens of thousands of Iraqis dead, 32,000 Americans wounded and a cost of more than $800 billion. But according to U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, it was worth the price in blood and money, as it set Iraq on a path to democracy. That's interesting, considering the Iraqis hate Americans, and want nothing to do with our democracy.

"The Americans are leaving behind them a destroyed country," said Mariam Khazim of Sadr City. "The Americans did not leave modern schools or big factories behind them. Instead, they left thousands of widows and orphans."

The entire endeavour has been a mistake from the beginning. Our mission was to retaliate for the 9/11 attacks - oh wait...you say Iraq had nothing to do with that? Well then of course our mission is to find weapons of mass destruction! Oh...no WMD to be found? Obviously our mission now is to get rid of Saddam Hussein! Mission Accomplished! Let's hang around for a few more years so we can shove democracy down these people's throats (and hey, if we can profit from some oil on the side...bonus!).  And the whole time this was going on, what was happening in our own country? That's right, the economy tanked.

Personally, I've been against this war from the start. I was against many of the policies of the Bush administration. I voted for Obama, because like so many others I believed his promises of change and the feelings of hope. For the most part, I've supported his policies over the last few years. He was handed a country in turmoil that was reeling from the poor decisions of his predecessor, and I  feel like he's done the best that he could, given the circumstances. He delivered on his promise to remove the troops from Iraq by the end of this year, and while he did stop short of calling this a victory, he did say this...

"I would describe our troops as having succeeded in the mission of giving to the Iraqis their country in a way that gives them a chance for a successful future."

That statement is so disappointing to me. This war was not a success or something of which to be proud. This war was a waste of life, resources, time and money, and I'm disappointed in our President for trying to spin it as anything but a disaster.