US should eschew interventionist policy

Immediately after the United States-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, we were told that Washington had got a rare opportunity to spread freedom and democracy in the Middle East. The US cited the successful transformation of postwar Germany and Japan to further its argument. For many, the picture painted by the US was indeed rosy.

But what people have seen since former US president George W. Bush ordered the preemptive strikes is an Iraq transformed into a perpetual war zone.

The Iraq Body Count project estimates that 132,929 civilians have been killed since the US-led invasion of Iraq. The total death toll would be 184,000 if combatants were included. On Jan 7 alone, 50 people were killed, including 21 in gunfire, in Baghdad.