on, in, and out of iraq

Ravaged and Remade, Iraq Is on Its Own as U.S. Ends War

i have such mixed feelings about the iraq war, and this NY Times article touches on most of them. we have spent almost 9 years, a trillion dollars, and countless lives on a war that turned out to be basically a failure. the American fatalities alone have far outstripped the lives lost on 9/11. that doesn't even address the number of Iraqi civilians who have been killed. even if Saddam Hussein's unseating is a positive change for the world at large, the absence of weapons of mass destruction all but proves that this invasion and occupation of a sovereign nation was based on a lie.

i have always been anti-war, and as my life develops, i find only more reasons to hold that belief.