Iraqi Politician Views Occupation of Iraq by US as "Strategic Mistake"

Representative of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq in Iran described the US invasion and occupation of Iraq as a strategic mistake committed by Washington, and said the United States' forced withdrawal from the Muslim country was yet a greater disaster for the Americans. Speaking to FNA, Majed Ghammas Abu Aref pointed to the US troops pullout from Iraq, and noted, "The invasion and occupation of Iraq by the US troops eventually resulted in a great failure for the occupiers and a triumph for the Iraqi nation." "No doubt, the exit of any occupying force from an occupied country is viewed as a great victory for that country," the envy stated. The Shiite politician further stressed that Washington has failed to direct the political process in Iraq, and added, "The occupation of Iraq by the US forces was among the United States' strategic mistakes in dealing with the other nations." Nearly nine years after American troops stormed across Iraq's border in a blaze of shock, US officials quietly ended the bloody and bitterly divisive conflict in Iraq on Thursday, but the debate over whether it was worth the cost in money and lives is yet unanswered. Nearly 4,500 Americans and 100,000 Iraqis killed. Another 32,000 American and tens of thousands of Iraqis have been wounded and the war cost US billions of dollars.