The Iraq war: Five years and counting (lost lives and wasted money)

Yesterday marked the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq: a war that has lasted longer than the Civil War, World War I or World War II. Of course, if John McCain has his way, it will last even longer than Europe’s 100 years war.

Yet, what has America accomplished from waging this war?

We are less safe and less able to shape events abroad. We are divided at home, and our alliances around the world have been strained. The threats of a new century have roiled the waters of peace and stability, and yet America remains anchored in Iraq.

[Barack Obama, the only presidential candidate who had the good judgment to oppose this war before it began]

But, in this case, numbers speak louder than words:

3,992 American soldiers killed

29,451 American soldiers wounded

Millions of Iraqi civilians killed and wounded – according to unofficial reports. Alas, the US discounts them as collateral casualties not worth counting….

2 million Iraqis now refugees in neighboring countries

2 million Iraqis now displaced from their homes in Iraq

$608 billion wasted / misappropriated / stolen (Note: President Bush’s pre-war estimate was that the war would cost no more than $60 billion)

Meanwhile, it’s a testament to the oxymoronic and ultimately futile nature of this war that, on the one hand, Bush continually paints rosy scenarios about its success; while on the other hand, he warns that all of that success can be lost overnight….

Related Articles:
Groundhog days in Iraq
Shotgun marriage between Iraqi Sunni and Shia factions
Civil war in Iraq is at hand
Iraq Study Group presents…
Unconscionable mistreatment of America’s war wounded
Bush proclaims surge strategy rousing success

Iraq war anniversary