Was the Iraq War a success?

·      This, in my mind, is an extremely hard question to answer because there are both many positives and negatives. However, based on research, I decided that I believe Iraq to a certain extent was a success. In all honesty, we put Iraq on the path of democracy, which became our goal after we failed to find nuclear weapons. President Obama even said, "Iraq's not a perfect place. It has many challenges ahead. But we're leaving behind a sovereign, stable and self reliant Iraq with a representative government that was elected by its people. We're building a new partnership between our nations and we are ending a war not with a final battle but with a final march toward home. This is an extraordinary achievement.” Coming from the President of our nation, it is clear that Iraq was not a fail. “After nearly nine years, 4,500 American dead, 32,000 wounded and more than $800 billion, U.S. officials yesterday formally shut down the war in Iraq -- a conflict that U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said was worth the price in blood and money, as it set Iraq on a path to democracy” McGreal stated in the Guardian news article. Overall, this conflict successfully promoted democracy, took out the terrorists and according to evidence may prevent terrorism because 80,000 Iraqis, mainly Sunnis, have teamed with American forces in the battle against extremists, which can help prevent terrorism in our nation.