Trump's 'excursion into hell' commentary may come back to bite

Donald Trump observed this week that the US's ventures into Iraq this century have been a "very expensive excursion into hell". ( Reuters: Eric Lee )

There has been a tendency to give a low mark for veracity to many of the utterances of US President Donald Trump in recent times.

But many might find themselves agreeing with his observation this week that the American ventures into Iraq this century have been a "very expensive excursion into hell".

His comments came as the US military announced it had completed its withdrawal of all American troops from Iraq.

"It's been a long time with very bad decision making that got us involved in this quagmire in the first place," Trump said. "It was a quagmire. For many, many years it lasted. But soon that part of history will be over."

Members of the Iraqi security forces celebrated the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq this week. ( Reuters: Alaa Al-Marjani )

Given the war against Iran — which he claimed would only take a couple of weeks — is now in its eighth month, with no end in sight (and possibly even a resurgence), there seemed to be some characteristic chutzpah in Trump's remarks.

He compared the sad US story in Iraq to his administration's actions in Venezuela, and even to the Iran war in terms of the number of US casualties.

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