Imperialist war left a bitter legacy of hate and instability in Iraq

After nine years of war and occupation US troops have pulled out of Iraq.

More than a million civilians died. Millions more were injured or became refugees. Iraq’s infrastructure lies in tatters.

The US still wants to shape the future of Iraq with its lucrative oil resources. It has built the biggest embassy in the world in Baghdad with thousands of staff and private security contractors.

Iraqis rightly cheered the US exit. Yet they are left with a legacy of poverty, instability—and the sectarian tensions stoked by attempts to divide the resistance.

But Iraq is not a victory for the West. The war was opposed across the world. Two million marched through London on the magnificent Stop the War Coalition demonstration in February 2003.

George Bush and Tony Blair will forever be associated with this bloody imperialist war and the lies about weapons of mass destruction that led to it.

They claimed they wanted to free Iraqis from a dictator. But imperialist war does not bring freedom whether in Iraq, Afghanistan or Libya.

Last year we saw the alternative. Popular revolutions of ordinary people showed they can overthrow dictatorships—and challenge imperialism.