We should not be in Iraq. We should never have been in Iraq in the first place and, now that we are there, we have a tiger by the tail. The only question that remains is whether we can get out fast enough before we find ourselves over-stretched, over-budget, still over-there - but in Iran. There is no doubt in my mind that a war with Iran will become reality. The only question is when?

We were told that the invasion of Iraq was to disarm the Saddam Hussein regime to prevent it using WMD's which, we were assured, were really there. Intel said so, so it must be true. Then we were told that the intel was wrong, or not complete, at best. We were told that not only were the WMD's a priority but taking out Saddam Hussein himself was also a target and a focus for the invasion.

Saddam Hussein is no more. WMD's have not only not been found, the government has now reluctantly admitted that they were probably never there in the first place. One would think that that would be an end to the matter and yet, UK and US soldiers are still being sent over there, still being brought home in body bags, still acting as the police for a divided foreign Nation. Some soldiers themselves believe that we cannot just leave and let the Iraqi's get on with it but that is emotional thinking which a soldier should never indulge in.

The only good that is left to achieve in Iraq is to pull out the troops, stop acting like the world police at best, bullies at worst, and leave foreign Nations alone to sort out their own mess. As long as they don't threaten our Nations, it really is none of our business. Despite what has been claimed, neither Iraq nor Iran did threaten our Nations. Not, that is, until the US President launched his now infamous pre-emptive strike against Iraq, a strike which had similarities to the invasion of Poland in 1939!

Until that point, the USA was not particularly liked by the middle eastern nations but none of them had the will, motivation nor the weaponry to pose a serious risk to the west. Now it may be different. Now Iran 'may' have nuclear technology and the capability to build nuclear weapons - something which America has enjoyed for decades without reproach - but whether they do or not, their country has been included in Mr Bush's "Axis if Evil" and for that alone, invasion is almost an inevitability.

Rather than working towards peace, it appears that our western governments are launching us further and further towards an undeniable war, one which will last decades. We should all be working towards Peace of course, but in order to achieve that worthy goal, it is vital that we first make the necessary adjustments to our political system in the west which will allow peace to become a possibility.

Learn more about this author, Jim Bradley.
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