A fair question, but who are we to answer it? Isn&#x27;t it up to the people of Iraq to decide? Would you want them deciding for your country that invasion, war, and mass death and destruction are worthwhile?<p>I understand that most Iraqis couldn&#x27;t express themselves politically under Hussein, but we have no business making this evaluation for them now.<p>Most importantly, as many do, the question omits what is by far the most important factor, the costs to the people living in Iraqi. Think about it: How many Iraqis died? Were injured? Lost their homes, livelihoods, and dreams? [1] Do you know? I doubt even 1% of people in the invading countries can answer the question, and (IIRC) the U.S. military didn&#x27;t keep track. Think about that: We invaded their country, cause mass death, and nobody gives a shit about dead Iraqis. When discussing the Iraq War, when is the last time you heard someone even bring it up?<p>Let&#x27;s also remember the other costs: Their nation, its economy and its institutions are in ruins for a generation at least. Their own government doesn&#x27;t even control large parts of the country, other foriegn powers such as Iran and U.S. decide much of what happens in your own country, many Iraqis now live under ISIL&#x27;s brutal oppression, and you can&#x27;t even field an effective military. If you were and 18 year old Iraqi in 2003 and planned to go to college, maybe to become a developer or doctor, where are your dreams now? If you survived, maybe you are now a 30 year old former militia member with a high school education, without skills or prospects in a sea of economic and political desolation. [2]<p>-------------<p>[1] Over 100,000 died, by the most conservative but serious estimates I&#x27;ve seen. I recently saw a politically conservative publication say it was 150,000.<p>[2] I don&#x27;t know enough about Iraq to know what a typical life story would look like, and probably few went to college before the war. But whatever their dreams and plans, they certainly weren&#x27;t this.