The war in Iraq has been ongoing for more than a decade now.

In that time, thousands of troops have lost their lives. And even more lives have been destroyed in other ways, hundreds of thousands more, for troops who are coming back home who are severely injured, struggling with PTSD etc; greatly impacting their own life and those of their loved ones.

It's caused an unconscionable amount of damage to consider.

Over in Iraq there have been millions of innocent civilians who have lost their lives or been displaced from their home. This was a war of aggression, one that was engaged in by choice, and propped up by many lies.

There's been incredible damage inflicted to housing, the environment, and infrastructure.

It's caused problems for not just the US and Iraq, but impacted families from the UK, Australia, Canada, and elsewhere. The war on terror, which includes the ongoing conflict in Iraq, has fueled a tremendous amount of debt; estimated to be somewhere in the trillions of dollars.

“There were no international terrorists in Iraq until we went in. It was we who gave the perfect conditions in which Al Qaeda could thrive. - Robin Cook, former UK foreign secretary”

After more than a decade, all of that which has been lost has been a tremendous price to pay and we should reflect on what exactly we've gotten in return for that investment. Just this year, the US saw what was described by the media as being one of the biggest terror attacks to take place since Sept 11th.

The American people were sold on this war of aggression under the promise that we would be fighting them overseas so that the problem didn't come home to our own doorstep. The problem, as the media and our officials would have us believe, hasn't been contained overseas. It's now causing issues at home.

And the American people have paid the price with their own lives in fighting this conflict for more than a decade now, as well as paying the price literally through taxes for the conflict overall. As a thank you from their lawmakers, officials here at home and elsewhere have decided to work to erode the personal liberty of the people, with moves for increased spying, further militarization of police, and more.

Just as the war on drugs has gone on for far too long, this war as well has caused much more harm than good and there is no justified reason to continue with it. Even former President Bush himself has admitted that the world would be better off if the US did adjust its disastrous foreign policy and did decide to just go back home.

While troops have been trying to carry out their orders overseas, you would hope that they would engage in their duties in a professional manner. However, on many occasions we've seen the opposite and seen the actions of various military members and others involved in the conflict, engage in activities that bring the reputation of the organization into disrepute. It's no surprise that many veterans themselves have called for an end to the war. And it isn't only in the US, people elsewhere are fed up with the war as well.

Just this week, a court in the UK ruled that the British army had violated Geneva conventions by engaging in inhuman and degrading treatment of innocent civilians from Iraq. This included things like sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, beatings, and more. And this isn't the first time that the Ministry of Defence has had to settle legal battles regarding UK military activities in Iraq.

For the US too, a variety of service members have been found guilty of horrendous acts that they allegedly committed in Iraq. There have been some pretty damning photos and video footage that has been released over the years that have no doubt changed how some view this and other wars of aggression in this ongoing battle against terror.

Will the US ever call it quits on the conflict in Iraq? Or will this be just one more country that they decide to never leave? After a decade of effort, the mission now reads more like a stain than any sort of accomplishment. It hasn't worked out in multiple ways and the American people can only wonder when lawmakers might decide to finally quit.

Pics:
Pixabay
via Wikipedia
Adam Zygus via Buffalo News
Mike Keefe via The Denver Post

Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/08/opinion/iraq-war-lies-13-years-later.html
https://www.vox.com/2016/7/9/12123022/george-w-bush-lies-iraq-war
http://money.cnn.com/2017/08/21/news/economy/war-costs-afghanistan/index.html
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/dec/15/british-soldiers-iraq-war-fiasco-iraqi-civilians-tony-blair
http://www.newsweek.com/us-military-lost-track-1-billion-worth-weapons-and-equipment-report-614391
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/americas-wars_us_5a394cefe4b0fc99878f2906
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/bradley-manning-leaks_n_3788126
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/16/world/middleeast/16sergeant.html
https://www.indy100.com/article/everyone-should-listen-again-to-robin-cooks-resignation-speech-over-the-iraq-war--WJe4kxLv8BW

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