Is the Iraq war worth it? Cost? Lives?

Question

U.S. casualties surge amid worsening Iraq violence By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. military casualties have surged in Iraq in recent weeks, with U.S. troops engaging in perilous urban sweeps to curb sectarian violence in Baghdad while facing unrelenting violence elsewhere.

At least 44 U.S. troops have been killed so far in October. At the current pace, the month would be the deadliest for U.S. forces since January 2005. After falling to 43 in July, the U.S. toll rose in August and September before spiking this month. The war's average monthly U.S. death toll is 67..

Answer 1

The war in Iraq was a huge error - it is a high cost in both blood and treasure. It is also very difficult to see how we are going to get ourselves out of it. The military told the Secretary of Defense just what would happen if we waged this war in the fashion and it has come to pass

Answer 2

This is a plinking war. WWII had three countries fight the world for about 7 years, which killed over 42 million people or over 1/4 of the world's population. Over 400,000 Americans lost their lives.

I would say this is on par with the New York and Chicago gang wars in the 1930s where everyone had car bombs and Thompson machineguns. It took about 50 years to get those guys off the streets and yet more gangs popped up. The Iraqis will have to figure out what they want.

Answer 3

The number of U.S. soldiers dead has exceeded the death toll of 9/11... I don't think it is worth it. The U.S. should have seeked to secure their oil resources elsewhere. Also Iraq will never be a Republic...There is too much internal conflict between the muslim factions... I mean do you think that if we sent troops to Ireland we could stop the Catholics from hating the Protestants? I don't think so, and the same goes for Iraq. We need diplomacy here and Bush needs to take out his troops. He is not even suggesting a plan for taking them out in the next couple of years, that would be like admiting defeat for him... He knows as well as we do how bad things are going, he just does not want to admit it. I think its better for us to withdraw while there is time and let the new Iraqi government to try and make peace. It'd be best if we focused on North Korea now.

Answer 4

Hmmm, we really wont know until it's over, now will we? How can we say it was worth it if we don't know the end results? If democracy takes hold, and Iraq eventually thrives, then yes. If it turns into a civil war and ends up as another failed state, then, no it wasn't.

2 years into World War 2 if you'd asked people if trying to save Europe is worth the hundreds of thousands of US lives lost, I'm sure many at that time would have said no. Looking back, everyone would agree that it was worth it.

You know who you need to ask? The troops over there, since they are the ones bearing the brunt of this, not you (unless you're one of them, but I have a feeling you're not).

Answer 5

When this war is over, it will be like every war after WW2, not worth it. 50.000 dead in Korea, 57,000 dead in Vietnam, Granada, Panama, Dominican Republic, Somalia and many more, all for not. If your president had to sacrifice his self or his kids, would he still say it’s been a good thing to go half way around the world and exact democracy at the end of a gun. What freaks me out even more is that many of you still support this insanity. If you feel safer, your just plane crazy.

Answer 6

Wow... I think this is the very first article that erudite posted (though not the complete article) that does not contain a fabrication... I am impressed.... maybe my constant catching of him, his fabrications, and his lies has finally convinced him to quit his crap

As for the question itself....

Blood is freedom's stain.... freedom is not free.... to bring freedom to a people that have never had it, yes I would say that is worth the sacrifice that some of our brave soldiers have given

Answer 7

It was a foolish idealistic vision of our president that a glorious western democracy would erupt after we kicked their despot out. Instead- without the stability of a brutal dictator, Iraq has broken out into a civil war- certainly to the detriment of their people, and has become a bastion of future terrorist activity against the west.

I guess that's how you punish a people that had nothing to do with 9/11 and didn't have WMDs.

Incredibly foolish foreign policy.

Answer 8

It is not worth the cost or the lives. People there have been fighting over that stretch of land (with the exception of the Saddam years) for the last 6,000 years. It is not going to stop today, tomorrow, or next week. Being there is making it worse. Kinda like being in a fight with your brother and the neighbor jumps in. The neighbor will probably be the one with the bloody nose.

Answer 9

If the US leaves, a power vacuum will surely be filled by a not-so-desirable ant-american government that would more foe than friends.

What if the Iranians took over... then we'd really be in deep sh**!!!

Answer 10

Using your lack of logic, WW2 was a dismal failure and should have been stopped at any cost after 1942.