Did the end justify the means?

The U.N. is warning of atrocities and  other crimes as insurgents battle for control of towns and cities in Iraq.

Obama promises help but says "We can't do it for them"

Since the U.S. and others,  invaded Iraq , destruction and  atrocities  have been  constant.

Thousands of young Americans died  in carnage far from  home. Geneva Convention rules
did not apply;

Official  reasons  for the invasion was possession of weapons of mass destruction. None  were found.

Saddam Hussein was identified as a tyrant, responsible for atrocities.

Iraq  was a civil society. There were schools and hospitals.  Women had freedom.

Ancient cities of incomparable beauty were reduced to rubble. Museums and art galleries were looted.

The French refused to join the conflict.  Warned against it. The French had a long and bloody history trying to remove themselves from French Indo China. better known as Vietnam.

Donald Rumsfeld and America's late night comics had fun with French perfidy.

As I read to-day's headline but not for the first time, a question comes to  mind.

On balance ,  was Saddam Hussein's regime which  maintained order in Iraq , worse than events  in that country to-day ?

The sacrifice of  all those young Americans  who died horribly or came home,tormented  by  memries of the horror ...... was  it all for a just cause ?