Baghdad - The United States has crushed the tyrannical rule of Saddam Hussein but failed to win the battle for democracy in Iraq, many Iraqis said as they marked the fifth anniversary of the US-led invasion.

(US President) "Bush speaks of victory but I say he has only achieved one thing for this country, destruction," said Abu Fares al-Daraji, in his tobacco shop on the once-bustling Saadun Street of downtown Baghdad.

For Daraji and many of his compatriots, sectarian bloodletting in Iraq has overshadowed the elimination of Saddam's iron-fist regime.

And many feel that Washington alone reaped benefits from the war.

"The United States achieved victory for itself by strengthening its control of the region, particularly that Iraq is a strategic country to contain the Iranian threat," said Daraji.
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