Vote in our Iraq anniversary poll

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Comments

[Thomas Georgoupolis]

As a PROUD Satan worshiper, I wish to thank all those that are responsible for the glorious rebuke of sissy values and christian forgiveness that the Iraq war encompasses..Satan in awe of the neocon 911 gambit as a transcending event and the putch it percipitated!! Every time some one is killed in this war Satan rejoices. All christ can do is look on in horror.... I am looking forward to this war spreading over first to Syria, Iran and the ENTIRE GLOBE so there can be more torture rape and murder. President Bush and Tony Blare should be very Proud of their excellent work. War is wonderful for real men and teaches the TRUE values of FORCE to the women children and all............. +++++++ Free Steven Green ++++++++++ +++========= An AMERICAN hero ========

[Braulio Stoker]

The invasion: Was it worth the sacrifice? It depends. Worth it to whom?

A more relevant question would be this: The invasion: Was it legal?

[Andrew Milner]

The US invaded and occupied Iraq to protect the US economy and the dollar. Saddam began selling Iraqi oil in euros from November 2000. The US bought most of this oil. If Saddam had got away with this, other countries would have begun euro oil sales. Specifically, Iran, Russia, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia... the US has few real friends. Therefore, to protect the petrodollar cycle and the dollar's role as the world's reserve currency, it was vital that Saddam should be stopped. In order to buy oil, a country must first buy dollars. The oil producing country takes dollars received from oil sales and buys US treasury bonds, or did until recently. When oil sales switch to euros, the US is in big trouble. The US cannot print euros, so has to spend real money. At this point the huge trade imbalance kicks in and the US is looking at a world of hurt. The dollar halves in value against major currencies, and the stock market goes into a black hole. Naturally this precipitates a world recession. Then the US will be unable to afford its huge military, which is larger than that of any other country by a huge margin. Therefore it was necessary to generate the justification for the attack and invasion of Iraq via Afghanistan. Whether 9-11 was an inside job is no longer important. Of course it was, but we've already moved on. Clearly the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan haven’t gone as planned, hence the huge increase in the price of oil. Although some of this is down to devaluation of the dollar. The big question now is whether Bush attack Iran, declare martial law and postpone the presidential elections. Nice neutral Buddhist country, anyone?

[James Fowler]

It is the most disgusting thing the 2 main democracies have ever done.
In this age of global news and the internet the reasons given for invasion fool no one and leaves one wondering at the state of mind as to its perpetrators.
One can only feel sadness for the innocents caught up in this nightmare and apprehension as to its fallout for all of us

[chanp]

Since America helped the Afganistanis to fight the soviets they should be grateful all the more. They should see clearly that America is not against the muslims. They should not lie about Americans are against muslims in order to stir up hatred. Unfortunately, there is no way to predict whether someone you try to help is in fact temporarily hiding their hatred against you. And that one day they will glorify cowardly terrorist organizations like the al Qaidas. Sadam was financing terrorists groups in palestine so there is no way i can be convinced that he is not capable of supporting his enemy, Al qaida, if they can be of good use to him in the goals of weakening America and Israel. Even though there is every possibilities of Japan becoming Germany's enemy if they didn't have a common enemy, there is nothing that says that they shouldn't help each other to achieve their ambitions that was at that time bent on hating America.

[Perry]

"My Wife is from Japan. When the Americans came and helped Japan to remove leaders who were extremists, bent on being hostile to America as well as the surrounding nations, sincere and honest Japanese did not view them as invaders."

How could you not view someone as invaders after they dropped a nuclear bomb on your county killing tens of thousands of incent civilians? Let's not get this thing twisted...

[Dutch]

I agree with all you pro-war thugs... we need to bring freedom, democracy and apple pie to Iraq... even if we have to kill 'em to do it.

[Mike]

Hate to tell all you patriots that support this debacle, but Saddam Hussein was perhaps the best asset we had in Iraq to subdue Muslim extremists. His harsh secular rule had no room for any competing religious movements. Remove Saddam and the whole place erupts into chaos. Not to mention the fact that Osama Bin Laden hoped more than anything else for our invasion - this type of action does more to fill his ranks than anything else. This whole Iraq operation was lose-lose-lose. If we wanted to right a much bigger wrong and save millions of innocent victims, we would have intervened in Sudan, but we didn't - why is that? After all, according to the "Patriots" we have a duty to oppose brutal governments and police the world right?

[Ed]

All I can say is that when President Bush leaves office, the Terrorist will claim victory. I appreciate the fact that he did his job as he saw it, to protect us, an he did not care about his poll numbers. History should be kind to him, although, most historians are Liberals. I will say this, I think he was the most unlucky President. He has had to face some serious problems. Now if only the Congress would start drilling for Oil an building some refineries, open up research for alternative engry an stop blaming the President. An stop lying to the American folks to get votes.

[Andrew]

First and foremost, 9/11 has NOTHING to do with Iraq and/or Sadam, he never worked with "Al Qaeda" and was actually against them!! Yet the war in Iraq would not have been possible without 9/11 happening, the country was in a perpetual state of fear and the mind is weak and vulnerable in this state, they/we also wanted protecting from this “terror”.
As a side note, WE HAVE NOT found Bin Laden; he's still in a "Cave" on his dialysis machine. Also he’s on the FBI most wanted list but NOT for 9/11, they said there isn’t enough evidence linking him to it.

The fact of the matter is he DID NOT have WMD's the intelligence was false as per the "downing street memo". Blair even knew the intelligence was dodgy, Bush asked him if he wanted to drop out and he said he’d support him “no matter what”. Over 1 Million people marched against the war in Iraq prior to the invasion.

The Fact being, America planned to invade Iraq back in 1998 for its Oil, Dick Chainey had drawn up plans to divide up the oil to private companies and build a pipe line through Afghanistan, it’s all official documents for you to read online. This is partly shown in the "Project for a new American century" and information in regards to this in the "rebuilding America’s defenses".

Yes he had Chemical Weapons because the American's sold them some after Ronald Ragen election, they were to use against Iran.

Yes the Americans financed the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan (now Al Qaeda) to fight off the Soviet's in the 70's and 80's. Ronald Reagan praised Afghan mujahedeen as "freedom fighters", they financed them will millions of pounds, weapons and explosives.

Yes the Pentagon took part in "propaganda" in order to change the minds of the public to favor war, they done this via manipulation of the so called "military experts" that are on CNN, FOX etc, etc.

The "Trilateral Commission" and the "Council on Foreign Relations" are groups of people who lobbied for the War in Iraq even before going into Afghanistan.

Basically the ‘Military industrial complex’ needed a war and it got one, as requested.

If you found any of that interesting then you might want to read “Operation Northwoods”, “Operation WASHTUB” “The Cuban Project (Operation Mongoose)”, also check out “The Gulf of Tonkin Incident”, "Sinking of the USS Maine", “USS Cole bombing”, the “Sinking of the USS Liberty” and just look up on other “False Flag Government Sponsored Terrorism”.

Educate yourself, read history.

[ssg bell]

Well, when it's all said and done then who will be standing at the front gate-the enemy or you.

[Bobby]

As a Desert Storm veteran I was deeply saddened we did not finish the job then due to the UN resolution preventing us from doing so.

The Iraqi people needed to be set free from the rule of Saddam and even he knew it would be a long fight.

There was a quote by him during Desert Storm that the Americans would not come into Bagdahd because the American public did not have the stomach for that type of conflict. And so it appears he was right. We have had many soldiers injured, and have lost some as well. But our losses are way below what the Iraqi people have lost. We are still in the low thousands, they are in the millions. I hope that someday when we ourselves need help that some country will come to our aid as we have come forward to help them.

We knew going in that it would be a long battle, Syria, Iran, Turkey, and even Saudi Arabia all have a lot to gain if we do not succeed in this mission. And failure is not an option. Iraq was put in this position because of British and US tampering, it is up to us to help get them out of it.

So America, stand up and be proud that we have the ability to help other nations. And be happy that you can go to Starbucks without being blown up.

Quit complaining and be proud of what our great American military has accomplished.

[James Callahan]

Amanda is one of the biggest fools to post comments on this site - conspiracy and lies that few people with any brains would waste time listening to let alone repeating.

[Sigmond]

Brits - Thanks for standing up and fighting with the US in Iraq. War is never good but sometimes must be done.

[pcyl]

My wife's from Japan. When the Americans came and helped Japan to remove leaders who were extremists, bent on being hostile to America as well as the surrounding nations, sincere and honest Japanese did not view them as invaders. In fact, many were surprised by how America offered to rebuild the country of Japan and even let them control their own country. These are things that they couldn't imagine their own extremists leaders would do to another country if their extremist leaders defeated a country.
This is why they were so grateful and even honoured Gen. MacArthur. In time to come, honest and sincere Iraqis will view America as a good friend rather than invaders. Even now they can see how the extremists are bent on hatred to the extent that they are even willing to bomb sacred places whereas America will try to protect, respect and rebuild their sacred places.

[cp]

Terrorists like places conducive for them to set up their secret nests where they can train, can indoctrinate the young with ideology of hatred, can train the young with the art of killing, can recruit people who already have some basic common beliefs, can raise funds, can prepare and improve their world wide secret networking systems. Yes, disturbing a bee hive without any strategy is unwise. The bees will spread all over. Yet, it is never an easy thing to prepare a strategy to deal with terrorists which operate based on support from "semi governments" and "public" that lacks exposure to modern day information here and there. Not doing anything also will be to wait for another sept 11. It is therefore important to raise up the moderate muslims who sincerely believe in being friendly to non muslims so that they will no longer be intimidated by the extremists. For the terrorists, if someone is friendly to America, they are branded as puppets for America. They should know that America has never been interested in puppets. That is why even within America people are free to speak against their leaders. In fact, within countries where terrorism tactics are commonly used, people are puppets to the terrorists organizations and will be afraid to speak out against what they think is wrong. Each time a mosque is bombed or innocent children killed by the extremists, how many members within that organization dared to speak out against their leaders?

[Aaron]

My auto insurance: was it worth the money?

That kind of question begs another. Is it fair to ask such things using perfect 20/20 hindsight?

Faulty intelligence (or moving banned items to Syria) aside, does anyone believe Saddam truly had a change of heart and wasn't bent on dominating his people and being a threat to the world? The Israelis halted his nuclear ambitions once as they've just done again with the Syrians. He continually deceived UN weapons inspectors and had violated 16 UN Security Council resolutions.

History, if not poisoned by such nonsense polls, will remember Saddam as a murderous tyrant with dangerous global intentions and world leaders like Bush, Blair and Howard as men who did what they could with the information given them. Those brave men and women who sacrificed all will rest among their brethren who through time have defended peaceful people against those who had no desires for peace.

[george]

The Mahdi Army is doing what any American would do if a foreign military came to "liberate" us- fight the invaders until they leave. Thats what the Mahdi Army will do- fight until the US miltary leaves.

[Forking]

September 11th, the most pathetic excuse for a war since Helen of Troy.

The comparitive ratio of deaths in that incident compared to the civillian deaths in foreign countries is severly imbalanced.

If indeed 'terrorists are everywhere', then how would invading a country make a difference? It's a lack of tactical logic.

If anybody thinks that invading countries will stop potential terrorists then they simply don't understand politics, war and common sense.

A country has a govornment, a military and an economy to sustain. They're not going to risk going to war with a superpower unless demands are issued that would leave them vulnerable to a takeover, which are obviously unmeetable.

The often used argument that states that there are long term benefits to the war will of course be anchored in some form of media reports in the future that claim that the 'restoration to peace' was entirely down to the military intevention in Iraq.

The truth is, after war, things can only get better.

I don't see myself, my family or my way of life being constantly threatened, and I doubt that's down to our technologically superior armed forces doing exactly that to third world countries.

[pc]

How nice if all terrorists can teach what Jesus tried to teach. "Love you enemies." the spirit of Hatred in a hostile manner is no better than the spirit of murder. Finally, how nice if terrorists of today are willing to sacrifice their lives for their enemies without the intention of hurting anyone.

[Nicol]

Remember,Jesus Christ was a terrorist during that time and A super power was used to ensure his death.That is how scores are settled at that part of the world and a super power of the time is always dragged in to ensure that some one over there does not take responsibility.Remember Pontius Pilote.

[filterthatshit]

war rhetoric is over. if you want it.

[Douglas Miller]

What exactly is the 'it' your question refers to? I can think of two people who always mention democracy and evil when asked about 'it'. A wicked waste of life, as good a definition of evil as most, a Utopian ideal enforced with bombs and bullets, yeah that's my kind of democracy. What could be worse, well, mea culpa, I voted for one of them.

[Patriot]

It really is great to see all those people bashing this war so bad. Then again when have the liberals ever wanted America to win a war. Plain and simple Liberals = traitors, so get out of this country already

[Gordy]

History will show we did the right thing.
We need to support Democracies and take down terrorist totalitarian regimes who are committed to destruction.
Lets remember what happened when the carter administration abandoned Iran, starting this whole islamic terrorist revolution based on brutal and inhumane sharia law,
Had we not abandoned Iran we wouldn't be in this mess!
We should not make the same mistakes as carter, and we must maintain a presence in the middle east.

[p.chan]

I am not an american but I LOVE AMERICA! i admire President Bush for his courage and for sacrificing his popularity.

After America librate Japan so that the power is no longer in the hands of extremists, America did not occupy it. After liberating South Korea, America did not occupy it. After liberating France and Germany, America did not occupy it. After liberating Kuwait, America did not occupy it. After liberating Afghanistan, America did not occupy it. After liberating Iraq, America ....

What "occupation" is Sadr talking about?? Just an attempt to use hot words to provoke hatred.

Some say America should help Dafur, Sudan. But if America does that and Al Qaida starts to cause a prolonged war in Sudan then people will say all the killings would not have happened if America didn't initiated it. Who can predict what the Al Qaida criminals want to do. Should we stop helping the oppressed just because of fear about what the criminals might do. Next time when I see my neighbour torturing his children I better not do anything because I might be called the "occupier."

Who likes war! But that doesn't mean we should allow bullies to sponsor terrorism helping them to strengthen their network while reciting, "Death to America!" No, Lincoln was no "moron" when he decided on a war that would upgrade the integrity of the nation he loved!

[bill, USARMY RETIRED]

Im thanking all the military men and women for keeping the enemy on the defensive so they have been unable to plan or I should say carry out any more attacks. Believe me they will if we take our foot off their throats. Keep up the great work and it will payoff in the long run. God Bless.

[TommyT]

"Was"? It's not over yet. The last card hasn't been played. "Will" it be worth it? Yes, with a lot of 'ifs'....If the Iraqi's will find the will to fight their own war, if....if...fill in the blank. And stop the blame game. There is so much that we,civilians, just do not know. Your going to much on emotion and not reason.

[ron langevin]

We should have a vote by all those who have served in Iroc. It would be 10-1 that we did and are doing the right thing.

[ron langevin]

Pres. Bush did the right thing, he is trying to do the right thing now. History will remember him as a extraordinary president in many respects no matter what the un educated, un washed, and outright stupid welfare receivers say.

[Alan]

What short memories. Saddam was giving the middle finger to the UN and world community that was demanding the search for WMD's in Iraq. The inspectors were harassed and kicked out thereby throwing out the terms of surrender document signed by Saddam after Desert Storm. Sounds to me like what Hitler did with the German surrender treaty after WWI. Dozens of UN resolutions were passed condemning Saddam. The US and Britain acted to enforce the UN resolutions and obtained authorizations from their respective governments. Dozens of coalition countries joined the effort. Prewar intelligence since the mid nineties indicated that Saddam was rebuilding his WMD capability. He had used WMD’s (poison gas) prior to the war’s outbreak. Apparently he was also buying off many European high ups through the Oil for Food Program. Clinton, the EU, MI6, the UN, Leaders in the US who had access to intelligence reports all said Saddam had or was developing/reaquiring WMD's. He also had terrorist training camps within Iraq and was informally working with AlQueda and BinLaden. In addition, he was provoking terrorist attacks within Israel. President Bush in consultation with our allies made the bold decision to move against Iraq to preempt any WMD's from being used by Saddam’s regime and to provide a beachhead in the area from which to take on terrorists in that region rather than waiting for them to attack coalition countries again. He also wanted to protect the free trade of Oil necessary to world commerce. First, coalition troops have been very successful in taking the fight to the enemies of freedom. Casualties as compared to even the D-Day landings have been minimal compared to enemy losses. (I know this does not comfort those who have lost loved ones.) Secondly, countries such as Libya have renounced terrorism and their WMD programs. Pakistani nukes are now being secured by the US military. Saddam is now gone and Iraq has a freely elected parliament. Also Iraqi citizens are now turning on the insurgents. The allied powers could have used overwhelming force to secure their objectives but political considerations were made that have hindered operations in the region. Now 5 years later. People on both sides of the Atlantic seem to be forgetting why we fight. I would suggest you look at the Fitna movie and thank God that there are still bold leaders willing to draw a line in the sand. That populations can be so easily brain washed by their leftist leaders and the media is disconcerting and ultimately will lead to the destruction of their liberty. I salute the accomplishment of our coalition forces. Finally, Iran will be shortly dealt with.

[R Hungerford]

As an American I'm paying an awful lot of money for gas--I thought we attacked Iraq for all that oil. That's all I want to say. Let's all stick our heads back into the sand. Nothing bad will happen.

[SteveNYC]

Osama bin Laden once said, "we will do to the Americans what we did to the Russians, we will bankrupt them". The war in Afaganistan bankrupted the Russians and killed the morale of their army. They had no choice but to leave. Now this so called war or terror is bankrupting America and playing right in Al Quedas hands. If these continues, the Euro will be worth 2 dollars by end 2010. On a side note, oil was 28 dollars a barrel before the war, today its $118 a barrel.

[Joseph (USA)]

The war was good for Russia, China, any oil exporting country, Haliburton and almost any eneregy company; GREAT for Iran.

[cindy jones]

Your poll is for fools. No one will know the outcome of this war for many years to come. No true freedom has ever been won in such a blink of the eye of time.

[Red]

Why is it, that some people just don't deserve freedom? It would stand to reason then, that when the US invaded England, France and the rest of Europe, in WW11, it was a big waste of time and 1/2 million US lives right? How many Europeans speak German, today? And for all of you that oppose the Iraq war, NOBODY HATES WAR, MORE THAT THOSE THAT FIGHT THEM. A vet.

[Chris]

Regarding expats comments:
The question should be,
"Should we continue with our efforts and make sure that those Iraqi's, Americans, Brits and others, who have paid the utimate price did not do so in vain?"

This is the sick and twisted logic that sends our youth to their death rather than except that mistakes were made.

[Chris]

Regarding expats comments:
The question should be,
"Should we continue with our efforts and make sure that those Iraqi's, Americans, Brits and others, who have paid the utimate price did not do so in vain?"

This is the sick and twisted logic that sends our youth to their death rather than except that mistakes were made.

[kregan]

At the end of the day, your opinions do not matter. Unless you are running for Prime Minister or President. So sit there and stew in your hatred for Bush, Blair, and the war in Iraq. No one who matters on this issue cares.

[Carlton]

Since prices at the pump are going up, the answer has to be NO. If I were an ESSO/BP/(other) shareholder, I would say YES.

[carson stidom]

Bush's illegal and unecessary invasion of a non-agressor nation was absolutely not worth any of the costs or live's it has since incurred and taken. The right wing noise machine took advantage of a national tragedy and foisted this blood drenched quagmire on a grieving public; our so called new's media stood by silently while Bush and his corporate conspirators raked in their necrotic profits.
Five years later we are being asked if this invasion was necessary and I have no trouble saying no. Many times Bush has repainted his portrait of why he invaded iraq: they were a threat to American interests; they had WMD's; it was to topple a dictator; it was a humanitarian mission; lastly and most pathetically he tries to drag god into his colossal failure. Not a single one of Bush's justification's for invading Iraq has proven to hold any truth and still he clings to the hope that history will will remember his criminal act as something other than what it is: an on going international crime against humanity. I hope one day Bush, Cheney et al are tried in criminal court for the evil they have perpetrated against Iraq. I do not think history will be kind to this flawed and deeply incompetant man.

[Dean]

Its easy to say No. The press wants us to say No. What would life be like in Iraq today if the war had not happened. Would the Kurds now be murdered along with anyone that raised their voice against the mass murdering regime of Sadaam. The war cost alot of innocent lives. The problem is that its immpossible to estimate the amount that it saved.

[dave]

if we want to know the justification of the US invasion we should watch the oil contracts. If one were to look at Bush and his cabinet you see a family in politics simultaneously being made rich by the oil industry. Just as Cheney was made rich by Haliburton Even W whose businesses all failed was bought out each time with a substantial profit while his father was president. Look at the cabinet all have oil ties Condi even had an oil tanker named after her. The British call Blair BP Blair because of his oil ties. Now Since the Iranian revolution (which to them was like the US Revolution) the US oil companies, who in essense ran their own candidate in the 2 Bushes, has been trying to get back to the huge profits they enjoyed from Iranian oil when they controlled the country through the Shah. They also lost out on Iraqi oil in a similar way when Sadaam nationalized the oil (the same reason Mossadegh had been overthrown by CIA in Iran) Then despite being a US ally he contracted with Oil companies from France, Russia and China. US oil companies were left out of the 2 most profitable countries in the world. They are richer than the majority of nations so they used their power to get back in the game. One of the first things we did after taking over Iraq's government is throw out those contracts. Watch the pressure they put on their colonial leaders to get US British and Dutch companies (coincidence that these nations oil companies were left out and now they are joined to fight "Terrorism") to process the oil. Now these countries have spent billions (out of altruism) to kill hundreds of thousands of people. But they need to get their money back. The drive to stay in the war is not for the good of the people as we are killing the people. They now have to get the money from their investment. That's why they can't leave

[nosferatu_d2]

Hey MARCUS!
You didn't learn much about the Brits while you were over here trying to learn how to throw straight, did you.?
The Scottish Brits usually get into bed to make wee Scots. Likewise the Welsh Brits, when they leap into the sack, are more likely to make little Welsh persons. And don't get me started on the Irish (again!).

I will grant you though, that lots of British Muslims get into bed (at least, I assume they have beds, just like we do...) to make tiny British people.

You...AMERICAN (There, I said it!)

[nosferatu_d2]

Hey KEVIN! What did you do in the war, daddy?

Hey SAM! "a couple" is not exactly a quorum, is it? Of course they are going to say it's worth it. If it's not worth it, they got disabled for NOTHING!

Hey EDMUND! When did you last get threatened by a suicidal Iraqi baby?

Grow up son! Most people in this world want to live peacefully and prosper.
Surprise surprise!
But there are a few maniacs of every nationality who want to ruin it for everyone else. That doesn't mean you should feel contractually obliged automatically to side with the ones who carry your particular country's flag. You seem to think that you and your countrymen feel pain more acutely than people in other countries.

I've got to tell you, love, you don't.

Some people are facing life and death situations, real terror, actual physical and mental torment every single day.

The most you, and I, and most of the other people commenting here are likely to suffer in the near future is a bit of arse-ache and a sore wrist from sitting around writing to the Times Online.

I love a bit of drama, but do get a decent soliloquy if you're going to hog the limelight.

And finally...

Hey EVERYBODY! Please stop saying it's about oil. If it's about oil, how come we are paying nearly double at the pump what we were paying a year ago? If it's about oil, how come Saudi Arabia, apparently the original breeding ground for current world terrorism, is making millions every day.

Hands up who thinks George Bush, Tony Blair, Cheney, and all the usual suspects are actually poorer today than they were six months ago.

Because you know the rest of us are...

[nosferatu_d2]

It isn't about oil, there's lots of oil.
Sure, you can think it's that, but
Really! It's about something else
Entirely. Evidence is absolutely
All over the place. You're probably
Looking at it right now...

[A Normal Person]

I don't know of a single british person that I know who at the time, or even now wanted that war, and I don't know a single muslim who wants to become a terrorist, or even cares.

I believe there are good honest people who are being harmed by leaders who would use us to their goals.

we should stop taking sides and stop the fighting.

[jim matvia]

Why don't you no-sayers read a history book and put your dope away and come back to reality. I'm embarassed for your weakness because all you do is bring America down. I feel sad for you. Read some History!

Your American friend, Jim

[Steve]

I wounder if Eroupe will ever fight to defend its self again'Long live the memory of churchill

[Michael]

I'm an American and remember watching Lawrence of Arabia as a young boy. You Brits have great actors and directors. He couldn't stop the infighting amongst the primitive tribes after the conquest of Acaba and Damascus. Nothing's changed. Should've learned from that film or the actual history. You Brits should lightin up on Tony Blair tho, he was loyal to a fault with Bush. Tally Ho.