The Government's Invasion of Iraq Was Based Upon a Lie

The below originally appeared as a letter to the editor of the New Jersey Record.

Regarding "U.S. weighs new Iraq mission" (Page A-1, June 13):

Veterans and families are beginning to question whether their sacrifice in Iraq was worth it. Sadly, the answer is a resounding no.

Our government's invasion of Iraq was based upon a lie — the lie that Saddam Hussein was a threat to the American people. Now we are seeing the unintended consequences of our government's toppling of Saddam's regime: the potential takeover of Iraq by an extreme Islamist group.

With reports that Iranian troops have entered Iraq to support their Shiite friends, a regional war cannot be ruled out in the Middle East, a war that is the direct result of our bipartisan interventionist foreign policy.

The American people need to embrace the insights and admonitions of John Quincy Adams, who said, "[America] goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all."

America's foreign policy should be based upon George Washington's farewell address: "The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible."

Unfortunately, President Woodrow Wilson's internationalist-interventionist view of the world has replaced the wisdom of the past, which would have prevented the needless sacrifice of America's soldiers to prop up the military-industrial complex.

Murray Sabrin

Fort Lee, June 13