(Takomabibelot, Creative Commons)

“The last American soldier will cross the border out of Iraq with their heads held high, proud of their success, and knowing that the American people stand united in our support for our troops.”

Success? Is he joking?

The Huffington Post notes:

“The U.S. invasion of Iraq itself resulted in the violent deaths of no fewer than 100,000 Iraqi civilians, according to the most conservative estimate…More than 4.7 million Iraqis were forced to flee their homes, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency, with 2 million forced to leave the country entirely…More than 4,400 U.S. soldiers also needlessly died in a war based on lies, from bogus tales of Iraq’s tie to al-Qaeda to claims about non-existent weapons of mass destruction that were easily debunkable at the time – had anyone in a position of power been interested in doing so.”

It is time to let the Iraqi people decide their own future, without the intervention of outside forces.

A common argument against withdrawing the troops is that the United States should not leave Iraq unstable – but after everything the United States has done to destabilize the country in the first place, to continue the unsuccessful battle for Iraq’s future this country is waging, would be reprehensible. The United States has destroyed Iraqi cities, infrastructure and morale. The people in Iraq want us gone, and they have the right to determine the future of their country without further interference from anyone, especially the United States. However, the United States still retains the moral responsibility to rebuild all that we destroyed.

Medea Benjamin, for the Huffington Post, puts it aptly:

“It might be comforting to think an immoral invasion can have a happy, heroic ending, but that's a dangerous delusion. As Americans, we should wish nothing but the best for the people of Iraq – but we should also acknowledge that, if the country finds peace and prosperity, it will be in spite of what the U.S. government did to their country, not because of it.”

So, yet another United States military intervention ends in disaster. But will we, when the troops leave Iraq, really focus on nation-building in our own country, rather than in others, as Obama suggested?

Such a path would require a radical change in United States foreign policy, scaling back the military-industrial complex this country has been developing since the end of WWII. As of 2005, the United States had 737 military bases throughout the world, and since 2005 that number has most likely increased.

Also, Obama remarked that “there is a strong American presence in the region to counter any moves the Iranians might make in Iraq. About 23,000 American troops will be in Kuwait on Iraq's southern border after the withdrawal. Another 5,000 are in Bahrain, where the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet is headquartered, and some 3,000 are in the United Arab Emirates and 7,500 are in Qatar.”

Even if the troops are withdrawn from Iraq, one can be sure that the United States will not really be working on redistributing military budgets to benefit nation-building at home. The United States is very much an empire (although one clearly in decline), and will remain so, for as long as it continues to believe that military intervention in other nations, under the guise of “national security,” is acceptable.

Reach Senior Opinion Editor Cara Palmer here or follow her on Twitter.