As Iraq Descends Into Violence And Chaos, Many U.S. War Veterans Wonder If It Was Worth It

U.S. Army Spc. Deonty Eastmon secures his sector during a patrol through Al Betra, Iraq, Nov. 26, 2007, as the rest of his squad asks local residents about recent insurgent activity. Eastmon is assigned to the 101st Airborne Division, 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Adrian Cadiz

'I Risked My Life, For What?': Iraq War Veterans Chilled By Country's Slide Into Civil War -- NBC

As they watch Iraq’s mounting body count and potential slide into civil war, some Iraq War veterans are more intensely questioning why they went, what it all meant, and whether the deaths of 4,486 U.S. troops on that foreign soil were worth the permanent cost.

Others are concerned about the impact that Iraq’s summer unraveling may have on the morale of active-duty troops who once fought there and who now are trying to finish the equally grinding mission in Afghanistan.

And 10 years after the Iraq invasion, the deployment and re-deployments of 1.5 million Americans, the subsequent execution of ex-leader Saddam Hussein, the rise of new acronyms like IED and PTSD, and a jarring suicide epidemic, a portion of former Iraq War troops say the mental-health struggles faced by so many younger veterans may consequently deepen.

Read more ....

My Comment: The U.S. tried their best .... but Iraq's history of sectarian hatred goes back centuries .... a few years of U.S. involvement would not have been enough to change a culture that has remained the same since the beginning of time. The alternative would have been for the U.S. to stay in Iraq for decades .... but that alternative is just not acceptable in today's public and political environment.