The United States of America aided mainly by the United Kingdom, Australia, Poland and Denmark invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003. The George W. Bush led administration stated that they would be invading Iraq because they possessed weapons of mass destruction and they needed to put an end to Saddam Husseins reign of terror. We have since learned that the latter claim at least, was a totally unfounded one.


What surprised many people then was the bullish manner in which President Bush went about this affair. The invasion was opposed by some of Americas traditional allies; namely France and Germany. The leaders of these countries publicly disputed Bushs claim that Iraq was a threat to the world but in what was described as a shocking move, the US President turned a deaf ear and went about his mission of putting an end to terrorism and keeping the world safe.


From the start of the fiasco, many persons in Jamaica and around the world were skeptical of Bushs arguments. In fact many persons held the view even then, that Bush was simply attempting to gain control of that countrys rich oil reserves. After five years we might not yet have any conclusive evidence that oil was the driving force behind the invasion but we certainly know for a fact that there were no weapons of mass destruction.


A recent survey has shown that over 4,000 US soldiers have lost their lives during the war in Iraq. But perhaps what is even more telling is the news that over 650,000 Iraqis have lost their lives as a consequence of the war with an estimated 200,000 violent deaths directly attributed to allied forces (the United States and Britain).


The US was not very well loved before the war but in the years following, there is no doubt that they are the country that everyone takes pride in hating these days. We all know that the US is a very powerful country, a force to be reckoned with, but absolute power corrupts and by defying the United Nations in 2003, the US made it known that they have absolute power.


Today, five years later, with Iraq still in a terribly unstable state and set to drain the US financially and otherwise, one thing is sure, America rues the day they invaded Iraq. And so as President Bushs disappointing term as president nears its end, we can only hope he has learned that humility is underrated.