Was the U.S.-Led Invasion of Iraq Worth It?
Sept. 3, 2010— -- I've been covering Iraq for seven and a half years, from the pre-war days when everyone insisted they loved Saddam Hussein to the chaotic aftermath of the fall of Baghdad to the peak of the sectarian madness.
Coming back now for the first time in three years, I'm amazed at how calm things are.
The United States ended military combat operations in the country this week, with President Obama declaring the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the start of Operation New Dawn.
About 50,000 U.S. troops will remain in Iraq but they will need Iraqi permission to arrest or kill a suspected terrorist. They will also need an Iraqi escort to drive through any city in the country.
Obama's declaration carries symbolic meaning but the country is still a war zone.
This was evident in the deadly attacks on Iraqi security forces last week, one day after U.S. troop numbers had fallen to less than 50,000.
The recent violence and the unstable political atmosphere have lead to real questions about whether the Iraqi government and security forces will be able to keep the peace.
So, at this crucial moment, I decided to go back to some of the people I've met during the years to ask: "Was it all worth it?"
I first met schoolteacher Hiyam Salim in 2005, when she was volunteering as a poll worker. "This mark means my whole life," she said while holding up an ink-stained finger after voting.
I interviewed her several times as the insurgency got worse and she remained relentlessly upbeat.
"Why are you optimistic? What gives you this hope?" I asked her.
"Because I love my country," she said.
Today, she is a newlywed. Salim is a Shia and her husband is a Sunni businessman named Saleh.
Although her personal life may be good, her view of Iraq's future has changed.
"I see a dark one really. If the Americans leave, it will be a dark future," she said.
Salim said the invasion was 100 percent worth it. "They [the United States] came here and liberate us from the Iraqi regime. You don't live in Iraq so you don't know how he [Saddam] ruled Iraq by force," she said.
"They sacrificed with their people, their troops, with their -- they came here and offer us many things, many good things," Salim said of the United States.
