Writes the Iraqi prime minister:
Today, on the 10th anniversary of the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, the debate about whether it was worth it to topple the regime and the direction of the U.S.-Iraqi relationship is influenced by a pessimistic view that the United States has lost Iraq. Not true. Despite all the problems of the past decade, the overwhelming majority of Iraqis agree that we’re better off today than under Hussein’s brutal dictatorship.
Iraqis will remain grateful for the U.S. role and for the losses sustained by military and civilian personnel that contributed in ending Hussein’s rule.
Iraqis lost far more, he says quite rightly. But the fault for those casualties lies in the insurgents, terrorists, and state sponsors of Iran and Syria who fueled the bloodshed. With an assist by the Sunni Arab world that at worst believed a Shia-dominated government should be defeated and at best figured it was a good idea to send their own jihad-minded young men to die in Iraq fighting Iraqi and Coalition troops.
We did a good thing. And I still don't understand why a movie hasn't been made about the "Thunder Run" that fought at such oddly named places as Objective Curly, Objective, Larry, and Objective Moe.
This counts as a victory, folks. As distasteful as that is for so many to admit.
