Personally, I would consider the war in Iraq a success for America if the troops were withdrawn now, even if the Iraqi democracy collapsed. While this sounds like a joke, I am serious when I say it’s highly useful to find out for sure where the WMD are NOT. Unfortunately, this costly war was the only way to know for sure. You could argue that it wasn’t worth the price to find out, but you can’t say it isn’t better to be sure.
Second, my guess is that America has improved its terrorist fighting knowledge and skills considerably as a direct result of things learned in this war. That is the sort of indirect benefit that can end up dwarfing all of the costs. Every modern war has created that sort of benefit. This one should be no exception. It could take decades before those benefits are clear.
I reiterate that the argument above is riddled with ignorance because I get my information from the media. That’s the point of this exercise. It’s your job to fill in the gaps and critique the reasoning. Sometimes the best way to get to a good opinion is by fixing a bad one that’s clearly stated.
I'm sure he'll get pounded in the comments, but he's right that knowing for certain about WMD was worth the cost, and he's also right that our military is better prepared to fight these kind of engagements, even if it may take some years before that becomes absolutely clear. I also like the part about admitting ignorance due to his sources.
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