Yesterday marked the fifth anniversary of our invasion of Iraq.
A lot of people made speeches. A lot of people protested. A lot of people hardly noticed the day’s passing. I spent much of it thinking about what has happened these last five years. Foremost on my mind were the troops and their families. With nearly 4,000 dead and almost 30,000 wounded, so many have sacrificed so much. And with troop levels expected to remain above 100,000 for the foreseeable future, many more will keep sacrificing.
I thought of the early days, and how we sent the troops into combat without the protection they needed. Most notable were armored Humvees. I thought about the deplorable, disgraceful conditions that awaited our wounded at Walter Reed. I also thought of Saddam Hussein: He, his sons and his followers were as nasty as anyone can be. After the invasion we discovered the rape rooms, mass graves and other evidence of their atrocities. Then, through cell phone video we got to see the disturbing images of his hanging.
But in the aftermath of taking out Saddam the war planners made some big mistakes. Worst of all, they disbanded the Iraqi army. There was a huge power vacuum and eventually all hell broke loose. Even though Saddam was out of power, the insurgents picked up where he left off, and rape, murder, kidnapping and torture returned to Iraq.
Since the war started, estimates of Iraqi deaths range into the hundreds of thousands, and there are an estimated 2 million refugees. It also appears that taking out Saddam might have aided our adversaries. For decades Saddam kept Iran in check, but with him gone Iran is now in the catbird seat in the Middle East.
I thought of the money spent on the war: It’s more than $400 billion and counting, and before it’s all over, it’s projected to be in the trillions. And were borrowing all the way.
I reminisced about WMDs and how we never found them or any links from to al-Qaeda. But at least we found lots of new catch phrases like “Mission Accomplished” and “Shock and Awe.” We’ve also expanded our vocabulary with terms like “spider hole,” “IED,” and “Blackwater.”
I contemplated the length of our stay in Iraq. The Iraqis seem unable to stand on their own and we are building an “embassy” that is more like a city within a medieval fortress. All three of the major presidential candidates left in the race have admitted that we will have a military presence in the region for years to come.
Recently, I noted how little media coverage the war has received. While “the surge” is no panacea for Iraq, the situation seems to have improved there and our troops deserve much credit for even the slightest turnaround. They have endured extended rotations, a lack of equipment, bad water and dozens of other disses. But I guess the media are busy covering more important stories about Britney Spears.
Finally, I couldn’t help but think there is one thing that hasn’t happened that might be expected: At the very least, you would think that when a country invades and takes over a land that is dripping with petroleum resources, the victor would get the spoil of cheap oil. But that has yet to happen.
Oh well, at least Exxon is making record profits. Who saw that coming?
Contact Jeremy Madden at madden@maddenamerica.com.
