This morning as I had breakfast I watched the news on TV. Every day there are stories about Iraq and how the situation there seems to be going from bad to worse. President Bush and Tony Blair occasionally tell us that great work is being done out there and that the people of Iraq are doing better now despite what it looks like. But as gunmen in the Iraqi capital Baghdad today killed at least 40 people at a fake checkpoint, in an apparent sectarian attack against Sunni Muslims, how can anyone feel this is a country in a better state than before?

It’s been three and a half years since President Bush, aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, proudly declared in front of gathered troops that the war in Iraq was over and that the United States, along with allies, had been victorious. “We have difficult work to do in Iraq. We’re bringing order to parts of that country that remain dangerous. We’re pursuing and finding leaders of the old regime who will be held to account for their crimes. We’ve begun the search for hidden chemical and biological weapons, and already know of hundreds of sites that will be investigated.” said the President.

“With new tactics and precision weapons, we can achieve military objectives without directing violence against civilians.” He said, and while that may indeed be true from an American perspective the civilian body from this war currently stands at around 43,000.

I, do of course, understand that allied forces haven’t been directly involved with killing all of those people. Many of the innocent people who have been killed will have died as a result of attacks aimed at American forces in the region. But as I watch this latest news today I am forced to wonder where this will end and what good will come of any of this in the long term.

The initial reason for the invasion was to find weapons of mass destruction. As we know these were never found. A quick re-branding of the war told us that the real reason for the invasion was to bring freedom to Iraq, but what kind of freedom do the people have now? Today’s news of Muslims killing Muslims seems to me to be evidence that the situation in Iraq is not at all good and that civil war might be a very real possibility. If that happens then what good will come of that? Will America and its allies be able to stand up proudly and claim a victory then? What happened to the promises made by President Bush to rebuild Iraq. Where are the new schools, roads and medical clinics?

The other night I watched a Channel 4 documentary called “Iraq’s Missing Billions” (preview below). People like Reece would, of course, dismiss the documentary as propaganda, and while I am willing to accept that facts can be manipulated, I would suggest that if this documentary were even 10% true that would still be something we should be very concerned about.

I’m not trying to be political. I just feel that this whole tactic of invading the Middle East has exploded in the face of the men behind it. I’m struggling to see what good has been bought to the region, and what the long term goal actually is.

For now all I can do when I see the news of daily violence is think to myself, what have we done, dear God what have we done?

See the full documantary : Iraq’s Missing Billions

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Dozens killed in Baghdad attack
Iraq Body Count
Iraq body count regional figures
Iraq war timeline
President Bush’s 2003 victory speech
Victory speech gets mixed reaction