Greg Sheridan heralds the success of the Iraq war (“In praise of good patriots and reasonable people”, The Australian, September 2), bringing us the glad tidings on improved Iraqi telecommunications: 500,000 new landlines – about the same number as the civilian death count.

No-one will miss Saddam Hussein, but remember that this war was prosecuted on false pretences, was deliberately confused with misdirected revenge for 9/11, and killed hundreds of thousands of innocents. And still there is no government.

When George W. Bush declared war in 2003, the first warning he gave to the Iraqi people was this: “Do not destroy oil wells”, making clear the ratio of “geo-strategic and idealistic goals” in Sheridan’s purported mix.

I look forward to the day that such idealism will lead us to invade, say, China. Oh, wait, we already have access to their markets.