We're going to need a lot more duct tape and super glue

In 2003 I watched CNN in my college apartment as President Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, and others made the case for war against Iraq. Intelligence from British, Italian, and German sources apparently proved that Saddam Hussein and Iraq not only had chemical weapon stockpiles but were attempting a nuclear program as well.

I deployed to Iraq in 2004 fully expecting WMD to be found any day.

During a short stretch of 2007 patrols in northern Baghdad were being hit by IEDs made from artillery shells containing chemical agents. Those artillery shells were believed to have come from a bunker complex that had once housed chemical rounds that had not yet been destroyed by inspectors; it was unlikely the insurgents making the IEDs had any idea the rounds were chemical munitions. Still, the true believers jumped on this evidence. Our battalion command sergeant major even started yelling at me after I briefed this new IED threat; why wasn't the media reporting this "proof" of WMD in Iraq.

A few outdated artillery shells proves nothing and no evidence of a WMD program was ever found.

As the years went by and new evidence surfaced, it became very apparent that, at worst, the Bush administration lied about the intel leading us to invade Iraq or, at best, was misled by false information.

Now the Iraqi defector, and primary source for German intelligence of an Iraqi WMD program, has admitted that he lied about the information provided to German and US intelligence agencies...and he's proud of it. He justifies the lies because it toppled the Saddam regime.

I wonder how the people caught up in the sectarian slaughter of 06-07 would feel about that?

But how do I feel about spending a majority of my 20's either preparing for or occupying Iraq, a conflict which was essentially based on a series of lies, misrepresentations, and the whims of a few folks in power?

Surprisingly ok about it.

I have long ago come to terms with the fact there was no WMD in Iraq and had read enough and seen enough evidence that indicated our leaders were looking for any reason to take down Saddam. My Iraq time came well after the invasion, a time in which the US was attempting to develop a new government, build up the Iraqi military, and deal with a growing and increasingly lethal insurgency. When I returned home from my second deployment the friend who picked me up at FT Lewis asked me if we should still be in Iraq and what our purpose was.

"We broke the vase. It's our responsibility to try and put it back together."

That's how I justify my life for the past 7 1/2 years. What's worse? Invading a nation on false beliefs and information or invading that nation and then abandoning it after you've removed the government and the security forces keeping it together?