Nearly five years down the line and troops are still in Iraq. There were no weapons of mass destruction, and the Ba’athist regime has been wiped out. The idea that Iraq provided a safe haven for al-Qaeda also proved unfounded, though it may have become a self-fulfilling prophecy. What can it mean now to ‘see it through’?
Was there ever any moral substance to the invasion of Iraq? Or was it never really anything more than a neocon adventure? Was the project driven by American national self-interest, or was it a desperate attempt on the part of crisis-ridden political elites to inject some moral purpose into vacuous national politics? How does the experience of Iraq play into the War on Terror at home? Will the experience of Iraq put an end to Western military interventions, neocon or otherwise, or can we expect more in the future?
 | Brendan O'Neill editor, spiked; author, Can I Recycle My Granny and 39 Other Eco-Dilemmas |
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 | Dr Bill Durodié senior fellow, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore; associate fellow, international security programme, Chatham House |
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 | Dr Chris Bickerton lecturer, politics, University of Oxford; co-editor, Politics Without Sovereignty; blogger, Le Monde Diplomatique |
| Maria Grasso lecturer, politics, St Hugh’s College, University of Oxford; co-convenor, Institute of Ideas Postgraduate Forum | |
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 | recommended by spiked |
