Iraqis still ask if U.S. invasion was worth it

[Barrett808]

Iraqis still ask if U.S. invasion was worth it
By Dean Yates
Mon Mar 10, 8:33 PM ET

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Five years after U.S. and British forces swept into Iraq and toppled Saddam Hussein, many Iraqis are asking if the violence and upheaval that turned their lives upside down was worth it.

The human cost is staggering -- anywhere between 90,000 and 1 million Iraqi civilians killed, according to various estimates; nearly 4,000 U.S. soldiers dead; while 4 million Iraqis are displaced.

On the bright side, Iraqis are rid of one of the 20th century's most ruthless dictators. They held free elections and have a new constitution.

For Iraqis, deciding if the invasion was worth the sacrifice depends partly on their sect and ethnicity and where they live.

Saddam, a Sunni Arab, persecuted the country's majority Shi'ites and Kurds. Shi'ites now hold the reins of power while once-dominant Sunni Arabs have become marginalized.

In Baghdad, epicenter of a sectarian war in 2006 and 2007 that nearly tore Iraq apart, people long for the safe streets of Saddam's era. In the Shi'ite south, they no longer fear Saddam's henchmen, but rival Shi'ite factions competing for influence.

In the north, the economy of largely autonomous Kurdistan is flourishing in a region that Kurds call "the other Iraq."

...

Um Khalid, a 40-year old Baghdad hairdresser, said violence was so random that no one knew if they would be its next victim.

"No, no, no. What happened was not worth it. Those who say things are better are lying," she said.

...

"Before 2003, we lived under a tough regime, no one can deny that," said Abu Wasan, 55, a former army brigadier-general and a senior member of Saddam's disbanded Baath party.

"But at least we never heard of bodies getting dumped on garbage just because people had a Sunni or a Shi'ite name."

(more)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080311/pl_nm/iraq_war_dc

[Demeter]

1. And Worth It To Whom?

Find the people who get something out of this, and take it away from them, and the war will end.

And that means, among other things: Impeach, Indict, Convict, Impound and Imprison!

[trthnd4jstc]

2. The Iraq war is a miscarriage of justice.

Bush and Cheney, and their cronies are War Criminals. Their assets should be taken away and given to the Iraqis.