From a posting by Col. Daniel Smith, U.S. Army (Ret.) on Foreign Policy in Focus: "...after my years in the army... I have come to the conclusion that warfare is so utterly destructive that, contrary to western religious traditions that go back to the 4th century, no war is 'just.'"
"As to Iraq in March 2003, this preventive war clearly violated the tenets of international law. What I find disheartening is that the United States until the last few years often took the lead in writing and insisting on the adoption of laws regulating both the causes of war and the way in which war is conducted. And I would also ask you to think back before September 11, before the administration’s campaign of fear, and compare the freedoms and the responsibilities Americans exercised as our political heritage to what we still have today. We have lost much in substance and in reputation, with the erosion of civil liberties at home and the rendition and torture scandals abroad.
And the 'job' that we have in Iraq? There was none; there is none. We cannot kill all the people that our government calls terrorists and who would kill us. In so trying, we end up simply giving more people more cause to try to kill Americans. And the longer we remain in Iraq, the more opportunities we give others to try to kill Americans.
As one nation-state among many, our job is to work with other nation-states to provide for the general welfare of the citizens of our respective countries and to help alleviate the worst conditions affecting the lives of people marginalized in our own country and around the world. Certainly, this is not done through war or the threat of war. Once a ruler decides that war is the answer to a dispute, the unknown, the unanticipated, and the unexpected become inevitable. And the cost of all three combined more often than not far exceeds the supposed 'benefits' that led to the decision for war."
I urge you to read the rest of the piece. It is very well considered and thankfully free from much of the political smoke that often infects discussions on this topic.