The Iraq War Is Over, But Its Story Is Incomplete

The Iraq War is a bad dream that the United States probably wants to forget soon. It has been eight years and nine months since the war began in March 2003, in which approximately 4,500 American service members and more than 100,000 Iraqis were killed in combat or terrorist attacks. Consequently, the wounds are too grave to be simply forgotten.

Last summer, the Iraq War was largely coming to a close as U.S. combat forces were withdrawn. A small fraction of the U.S. military remained and trained Iraq’s security forces under a plan to have the U.S. military completely withdraw by the end of the year.

Once again, the reasons for invading Iraq are being questioned. Iraq’s supposed weapons of mass destruction, which served as moral justification for former President George W. Bush to wage war against Iraq, were never uncovered. After the Gulf War in 1991, the United Nations Investigations Division went to Iraq to eradicate the same kind of weapons. As of 2003, it was difficult to believe that Iraq was stockpiling such weapons all along.

Furthermore, the Arab Spring shows that secular dictators and Islamic beliefs don’t generally mix well. According to U.S. military investigations, President Saddam Hussein was also suspected of being connected to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and Osama Bin Laden. This was a stretch from the beginning.

Moreover, before the war began, former Secretary of State Colin Powell presented information on Iraq’s mobile biological warfare program to the United Nations Security Council, which turned out to be the fabrication of a person [an Iraqi informant] suspected of alcoholism.

Did this fundamental information truly go unnoticed as the war was rushed into? Bush’s real motives for invading Iraq still haven’t been told. The war’s story remains incomplete.

The Iraq War has led the world to lose its faith in the United States. The financial burden of the war in Afghanistan turned the single largest and most powerful country upside down. Even if the United States hurries to wipe the war from the world’s memory, it has left permanent stains. There are too many problems to consider.

President Barack Obama remarked, “It is harder to end a war than to begin one.” The situation in Iraq is disquieting. It is not clear whether or not the U.S. government intends to parent the new Iraqi government. Right now in Iraq, there are few key government figures that act under the influence of anti-American Iran and Syria. Yet these three Shiite countries’ anti-American attitudes seem to be growing.

However, the people of Iraq are probably opposed to bloodshed. After the U.S. military withdraws, the Iraq government wants to build its strength in maintaining peace and a steady government. Last month, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki agreed to strengthen economic relations between Japan and Iraq. Although Japan has relations with Iraq’s rivals, Japan and Iraq expect to build a good relationship.