by J0SEPH FARAH: Joseph Farah is founder, editor and CEO of WMD

and a nationally syndicated columnist. He is the author or co-author of 13 books, including his latest, "The Tea Party Manifesto," and America Back," now in its third edition and 14th printing. Farah is the former editor of other major-market dailies. America is getting very adept at winning every battle in the foreign wars it wages, yet having nothing to show for it after the U.S. military comes home. It was a trend started in Vietnam. It appears to be happening, again, in Iraq and Afghanistan. What did we win in Iraq, besides toppling Saddam Hussein from power and watching him hanged? We saw most of the Christian population killed or driven into refugee status. We saw Iran empowered in influence in a country it had previously battled in an eight-year war costing the lives of 1 million people. We watched as chemical weapons, which Saddam Hussein had used as no other leader in the world had since Adolf Hitler during World War II, were moved to neighboring Syria in anticipation of the U.S. invasion. Ironically, according to a credible report in the Lebanese daily Al-Mustaqbal, those chemical weapons are now headed back to Iraq. The news organization reported Sunday some 20 trucks worth of equipment and material used for the manufacture of chemical weapons were transported into Iraq. Of course, as expected, the government in Baghdad denies it all. The report came just a day after the United States and Russia struck a deal stipulating that Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime would destroy its chemical arsenal to avert an American military assault. The newspaper reported with a high degree of specificity that the trucks crossed the boundary separating Syria with Iraq from Thursday to Friday. Border guards did not inspect the contents of the trucks, which raises suspicions that they contained illicit cargo, according to Al-Mustaqbal. It's worth noting that they contained illicit cargo, according to Al-Mustaqbal. It's worth noting that Al-Mustaqbal is a publication known for opposing Syria's involvement in Lebanon. But the report in Lebanon agrees with earlier statements of the Free Syrian Army. Experience more of Joseph Farah's no-nonsense truth-telling in his books, audio and video products, featured in the WND Superstore. Who knows what to believe about what comes out of this part of the Middle East, where politics invlves far more intrigue than most Americans could ever keep up with? But the report raises the question Americans should be asking themselves after the blood, sweat and tears it invested in "freeing" Iraq from the reins of the madman Saddam Hussein. What did we win in Iraq? Was it all worth it? What strategic objectives did we achieve? Did we make America safer? Did we make Iraq a more hospitable place? Will Iraqis be able to govern themselves for the long term? What will we do with the most expensive embassy ever built by any nation in the history of the world as the number of American diplomatic personnel is further reduced? Is the Middle East a better place for having eliminated the tyrant? Are religious minorities, namely Christians, better off or worse off for America's involvement in this war? Will Iraq swing to an alliance with Iran and Syria? How will our involvement and sacrifice affect Iraq's policy toward friends like Israel? There are really only two spheres of influence in the Arab and Muslim world: They are Iran and Saudi Arabia.