No way to justify Iraq War as good

The marking of the 10th anniversary of the Iraq War has prompted some of the nation's more hawkish citizens to insist that history will prove that it was a good thing, this despite the false pretext under which it was launched.

Historic justification of this kind is as valueless as contending as good solutions the Plague of the Black Death, sinking of the Titanic, the devastating volcanic eruption that destroyed the island and people of Krakatau and tooth decay.

Hey, if it doesn't kill everyone, give or take a hundred or a million years, the worst of times will be a good historic solution. But let us look on to good un-history beyond even that, like heaven or hell. Take your pick and until then, the mistaken war in Iraq must do for a bad idea.

And in the meantime, let all of us ensure that no one who serves the interests of our beloved nation by standing in harm's way shall have ever died or served in vain. As Alfred Lord Tennyson said for those who served in a blunder of war so total that for posterity he recorded it in verse, “The Charge of the Light Brigade:”

“Someone had blunder'd:

“Theirs not to make reply,

“Theirs not to reason why,

“Theirs but to do and die:

“Into the valley of Death

“Rode the six hundred.”

And they did in Iraq and we owe them, and thank God most of them have come back home!

Sam Osborne

West Branch