Re:the debate is over, the right gave up (Score 1)

All of the points you mention above are worthwhile to discuss and indeed I spend many hours doing so with people. I disagree with some and agree with others but I do think that a case can be made for most of them. My objection is with the following:

So no, it isn't too early to say that the invasion of Iraq is among the least destructive major military invasions in the history of the world. All such actions involve considerable destruction, damage, and loss of life, but the overall totals and rates are dramatically lower than what has been record for comparable events

It is too early to judge the Iraq invasion. The country is not secure, there is no control (dejure or de facto) over large parts of it. There is no rule of law and very little objective information about the country on which to base an opinion on if the Iraqi's are better off or not. If the US is still fighting in Iraq in 5 years time then I do not see how one can claim that it is one of the least destructive military invasions in the history of the world. Some other example that you may wish dwell on are - Indonesia in Papua, the Indonesian invasion in East Timor, the Australian led invasion of Indonesia (East Timor), China in Tibet, US in the Philippines. As you can see comparing fruit is fun but not decisive.

It is too early to assess if Iraq was a success at all, let alone one of the least destructive ones