On March 20, 2003, Baghdad, which suffered a new round of air strikes, was shrouded in smoke.
Xinhuanet Special: Five years ago today (March 22), the United States launched a war and attacked Iraq by force. What do you think of this war? Has the United States achieved the purpose of launching this war? What are the gains and losses?
It should be said that the war launched by the United States is an unjust war of aggression.
The reason is simple. First of all, the United States bypassed the United Nations and joined a handful of countries to launch this war.
Second, the two reasons why the United States launched the war have been proved to be false by history. In fact, those two so-called reasons are the excuses for the United States to launch a war of aggression and destroy Saddam Hussein.
The first reason is that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. The second reason is that Saddam Hussein has ties with al-Qaeda terrorist organizations.
As it turns out, neither of these reasons exists. The U.S. Department of Defense recently released an investigation report, acknowledging that Saddam Hussein has no connection with Al Qaeda. Saddam Hussein was wronged, and the United States created an "international unjust case".
The United States has searched every inch of Iraq since it occupied Iraq for five years. As a result, no weapons of mass destruction have been found.
The evil deeds such as the annexation of Kuwait by former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein are disgusting, but the occupation of Iraq by the United States for no reason is even more annoying.
Did the United States achieve its goal of invading Iraq? It should be said that the purpose of the United States has been achieved. The United States has three purposes, the first is to overthrow Saddam Hussein’s regime, the second is to master Iraq’s rich oil resources, and the third is to use Iraq as a base to contain its "sworn enemy" Iran.
Now it seems that all three goals of the United States have been achieved. However, how to evaluate the gains and losses of the United States? Gain is greater than loss, or loss is greater than gain?
What did the United States lose in this war? The United States has four major losses in launching this war. First, the moral loss is irreversible. At the beginning of the war, the United States was condemned by most countries and people all over the world. Today, when the truth of America’s excuse for waging war comes to light, people despise America’s bullying and unreasonable behavior even more. People have a clearer understanding of the face of American hegemonism.
Second, the loss of personnel was heavy. In the five-year war, nearly 4000 officers and men in the United States were killed. If you add the British officers and men who died, the total number will reach 4200. In addition, there are 30 thousand officers and men disabled in the United States.
Third, the economic loss is huge. According to statistics, during the five-year war, the United States spent $3 trillion, which is about a quarter of the annual GDP of the United States. It is estimated that in 2008, the US military expenditure in Iraq was $12 billion per month.
Fourth, the United States never dreamed that Iran was the beneficiary of this war. In post-war Iraq, Shiites took power. Iran, which is also in power by Shiites, has loose and gradually close relations with its old enemy Iraq. In addition, the Iraq war has pushed up the international crude oil price, and the economic strength of Iran, a world oil producer, has soared. It is obviously more difficult for the United States to attack Iran by force in the future.
The Iraq war launched by the United States can be said to have lost more than gained. However, the U.S. government is still beating its face and pretending to be fat, refusing to admit the failure of the Iraq war. It has become a war swamp in the United States, but it is an indisputable fact that when the United States can get out, no one can tell. (Liu Ruichang)
Editor: Li Xiuwei
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