Iraq Five Years Later: A Lost Cause?

Since President George W. Bush declared war on the regime of Saddam Hussein on this day in 2003, there's been a whole lot of shock and awe. It was all provided after the invasion, with Americans bearing the brunt of it.

To date, nearly 4000 U.S. soldiers are dead and nearly 30,000 are wounded. The number of Iraqi casualties (depending on who you ask) range somewhere between 80,000 and 90,000.

There's no point in rehashing the reasons why the war began, and why it continues to this day. President Bush and his cronies believed the reports about weapons of mass destruction and Saddam's link to Osama bin Laden, even when they were proven wrong. If the low approval ratings are any indication, January 20, 2009 can't get here soon enough.

Right now, there is an increased number of American soldiers patrolling the streets of Baghdad and environs. We hear the violence has actually been reduced. We don't know if that's really true, or if that's just spin provided by the Pentagon with the intention of getting more money from Congress to keep the war going.

The presidential candidates disagree on how long soldiers should stay in Iraq. Both Democratic Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama say they should leave as soon as possible after they take office. Republican Senator John McCain, an old military hand, believes they should stay as long as it takes to achieve victory--even if it takes a hundred years.

We've been hearing stories about soldiers serving their third or fourth (who's counting?) tours of duty in Iraq, and they're not very happy about it. Let's see: There is no draft. No one forced them to go to Iraq. They signed up for this war in the belief that they are defending America in the wake of 9/11. Iraq poses no threat to national security, except in the minds of the Bush administration. The last time America actually had to be defended was during World War II. So what are they whining about?

No matter how the war in Iraq turns out, whether it's months or decades, America has already lost in terms of credibility at home and abroad. And it will be many years before the wounds heal.