It may be one of the most obvious things a person can say: Iraq was better before the war than now. Better for Iraqis and better for us. Yes, Saddam Hussein was a very bad leader capable of great violence, but I cite only two points to support my claim:

1. Under Hussein, Iraqis were Iraqis first, not Suni, Shi’a, or Kurds. The most dramatic effect of the US invasion has been a destructive increase in sectarianism. The kind of stability Iraqis enjoyed before the war will not return until Iraqis have a sense of themselves as a nation rather than a group of religious sects.

2. Under Hussein, Iraq and Iran were bitter rivals who had fought a long war. Now Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is an ally whose recent state visit to Iraq stands in stark contrast to President Bush’s brief visits under intense security. Iran, one of our bitterest rivals, has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of our war in Iraq.

Of course, John McCain will say this is history. What are you going to do now? Perhaps we can begin by understanding that we cannot beat the rest of the world into submission with military force. Wars of aggression rarely achieve positive results. Even the war in Afghanistan, which was more justifiable than the war in Iraq, has not produced the results we would have liked.  

So why continue a failed policy? Every day the war continues we delay any potential improvement in our international image. If we agree that it is important to have more allies rather than fewer and to improve our standing in the community of nations,  ending the war in Iraq now would be an important first step towards those goals.