The end to a long and needless war

History was made at the White House on Monday, Dec. 12.

Standing side by side in the South Court Auditorium of the Old Executive Office Building, President Obama and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki proclaimed the end of the war in Iraq.

Only 6,000 American combat troops remain in Iraq, down from a peak of 170,000. Those remaining 6,000 will be out before Dec. 31. And the long, bloody, unnecessary war will be over at last.

Over a million American soldiers served in Iraq over the last eight years. Some 4,500 of them never came home. And the war cost American taxpayers over $1 trillion.

President Obama insisted that our troops can come back from Iraq “with their heads held high” for a job well done. Indeed, they can. But we citizens can still ask the all-important question: Was it worth it?

Absolutely not. Iraq had nothing to do with Sept. 11. Iraq harbored no al Qaeda terrorists. And Iraq was not a threat to the United States. There were no nukes, no weapons of mass destruction.

The war in Iraq was George Bush’s war of choice. It was a dumb war. An unnecessary war. An unjust, and maybe illegal, war. Thank God it’s over. But we never should have invaded Iraq in the first place.