Iraq, after the fact, perhaps during

Was Iraq worth it, 7 years after the invasion?

Personally, I think it is too soon to tell (not mocking the Chinese Premier quoted in the 16th paragraph).

I also found the quote in the third paragraph to be a little bit humorous:

"We don't want food," said Nooriya Khalaf, 39, pointing dismissively at the small bags with rice. "We want jobs."

I realize there isn't much America can do about something like that, but I can only imagine how offended many Americans would be if that were to be the government's solution to unemployment. While technically food stamps and unemployment checks are handouts in the literal sense, they become analogous to currency and credit; i.e., you use the food stamps to buy the bag of rice, but you could exchange it for something else if you like (perhaps a bag of wheat flour, sticking with the bag of grain theme).

Anyways, I think it's too soon to tell whether or not the intervention was beneficial. It's impossible to tell when (or arguably even whether) Sadaam and the baathists would've fallen. Even the information within the article basically says that.

Regardless of support for or against the war, the troops may have finally been pulled out for good. This leaves the fate of Iraq ultimately within the hands of the Iraqis. Maybe democracy was meant to thrive there, maybe it wasn't, but at least it's been tried.

-- Knuttel