It’s been five years since George W. Bush and his theocon cronies, with the complicit support of congressional Democrats, brought the United States to war with Iraq.

A needless war.

A senseless war.

A deliberate diversion from the real war on terror and the pursuit of Osama bin Laden.

A war that was more about family honor and potential oil revenue than actual world and regional security.

A war that had cost this country the lives of 3,990 of its own people.

A war that has wounded over 40,000 U.S. soldiers, many severely, and has provided little to no services to them once they return from the theatre of combat.

A war that has killed hundreds of thousands – if not millions – of innocent Iraqi people.

A war that has not achieved any of its purported goals.

A war that was launched with inadequate funding, insufficient troop levels, little strategy, and no exit plan.

A war that, combined with ill-conceived tax cuts and increases in wasteful spending, has destroyed the economy of the United States.

There is no stability in Iraq since the fall of Hussein and the Ba’athists.

The price of oil has not fallen as a result of the “liberation” of the Iraqi oil fields.

The security of the United States has not been improved due to our presence in Iraq – if anything, things are far less secure on a global scale.

In going to war with Iraq, President Bush and his advisers did not remove causes of terror. To do so would have required introspection, something that none of the current occupants of the executive branch seem to be able to do, as it shows them as spineless, rudderless hypocrites.

Our war in Iraq has hastened the development of a civil war in the country. And as was the case in Vietnam, we have no business being involved in a civil war on foreign soil.

It is time to end this war and bring our troops home in an orderly way. At this juncture, as was the case in 2003, we can only cause more harm than good.