The Iraq War ten years later

Wikipedia defines preventative war as " a war initiated to prevent another party from attacking, when an attack by that party is not imminent or known to be planned." It is different from preemptive war. Again from Wikipedia, "Preventive war is distinct from preemptive war, which is first strike when an attack is imminent." Today is the tenth year anniversary of the Iraq War, America's first preventative war and biggest foreign policy mistake.

President George W. Bush's administration declared that Iraq's Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. Some in the Bush circle tried to link Hussein to 9/11 and Al Qaeda. There was the comment from National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice about smoking guns becoming a mushroom cloud. But here are the facts. Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction. Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. Iraq did not attack us, we attacked them. We Americans believe in justice and due process. But Bush ignored core American values by waging war against a country that did not have weapons of mass destruction. What was outrageous was the evidence that Iraq had such WMDs was weak. The costs of the war according to a piece by Chris Matthews was over a hundred and ninety thousand Iraqis were killed. Over four thousand American troops were killed. And over two trillion of our treasury was spent. If there is anything to be learned it's this, we should never engage in preventative war again or at least be very sure that there credible evidence to go to war.

Here are Chris Matthews' video Hardball pieces on the Iraq War.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy