As criticism of the Iraq war and calls for troop withdrawal become commonplace, it is important to remember that the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq was not a mere mistake made by a well-meaning administration. The war remains what it always has been: a blatant moral atrocity.

The Bush administration's high-flown rhetoric about freedom and democracy clearly contradicts its actions. Consider the fact that the United States was originally opposed to elections — preferring a complex system of caucuses designed to appoint Iraq's government — until Iraqi resistance (led by Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani) forced that option off the table, according to a Feb. 20, 2005, edition of the Chicago Tribune. The administration and its allies in the press quickly took credit for the subsequent elections, citing them as evidence of their commitment to democracy.

One might also note a secret British military poll, conducted last August, that was leaked to the British, according to the Sunday Telegraph. The poll found that 82 percent of Iraqis are "strongly opposed" to the presence of foreign troops in their country. If the United States was serious about democracy, it would honor the wishes of the populace and withdraw.

It is no accident that the United States always planned to keep multiple military bases in Iraq well after "full" withdrawal of its troops. Nor is it an accident that the occupation regime opened Iraq's economy to exploitation by foreign corporations bent on depriving Iraqis of their own resources. A majority of Iraqis would never approve the long-term presence of U.S. military bases or the exposing of its economy to foreign plunder.

These anti-democratic measures demonstrate why Iraq rather than some other oppressed country was the Bush administration's choice for invasion. It is not by mere chance that Iraq happens to possess an abundance of natural resources, control of which offers the United States considerable leverage over rival countries.

For those who ignore this evidence and believe the U.S. claims of benevolence, a question might be asked: would our country tolerate the same situation if the roles were reversed? Would American citizens accept a foreign power establishing permanent military bases on their soil, opening their economy to extreme free-market measures without their consent, and continuing to maintain thousands of foreign troops in their country? We should extend the same respect to Iraqis as we would desire for ourselves — if we are serious about democracy.

If we ignore the evidence and fail to identify the Iraq war (28,000 — 100,000+ Iraqi civilians dead) as a moral catastrophe, instead labeling it as a blunder or a miscalculation, then we not only excuse war criminals of their crimes, but we also set the stage for similar atrocities to be committed. The Iraq war is not just a mistake — it is fundamentally immoral, and we ought to condemn it as such.