Two Years After Iraq Attack: Bring Our Troops Home

From American Progress....

This weekend marks the two-year anniversary of the Bush administration's invasion of Iraq. Although Iraq's recent elections signal a positive turn, far more remains uncertain. The administration's disastrous post-war occupation has hindered reconstruction and security efforts. Corruption and violence are endemic. And the costs in American lives and taxpayer dollars continue to mount. We know one thing for certain; the administration's predictions and statements before the war were all wrong.

The Bush administration's rationale for war was dead wrong. All of the rationales posed by the White House as justification for the war have been thoroughly debunked. There were no weapons of mass destruction. Saddam Hussein had no collaborative ties to al Qaeda. Bush's talk of freedom and democracy appear to be afterthoughts to justify a war of choice. Although these are laudable goals, they were not the stated reasons for sending U.S. servicemen and women to die. The administration misled the nation into war and now wants us to believe its motives were noble.

The war did not pay for itself and U.S. forces were not greeted with open arms. In the days after the invasion two years ago, the White House famously predicted the war would pay for itself. Today, the U.S. is on track to spend close more than $200 billion for the Iraq war. Two years ago, the White House claimed U.S. troops would be greeted as liberators by the Iraqi people. In July 2003, there were an estimated 5,000 insurgents fighting against U.S. troops. Today, that estimate is closer to 18,000. And while a year ago, there was an average of 14 attacks against U.S. troops per day, now it's more than 70.

Americans have spoken: they do not believe the war was worth fighting. According to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, 53 percent of Americans said the war was not worth fighting and 70 percent said the number of U.S. casualties is an unacceptable price. Despite the administration's unrelenting propaganda about Iraq, Americans understand the consequences of the administration's actions and don't like what they see.