Seven years ago on March 19, 2003, the US launched its war in Iraq. Now, seven years later as we launch into the eighth year of the war, the US has 96,000 troops in Iraq and is spending about $8 billion per month on the war effort there. This ignominious anniversary provides an opportunity for us citizens to reflect on the past, present, and future of “our” war. (It has been fought in our name. We own it).
 
We must not forget that this war was based on lies – WMDs that did not exist, Saddam Hussein’s ties to al-Qaeda which did not exist, intelligence from Chalabi and Curveball. We must not forget the noble sacrifice of 4,384 members of the US Armed Services who have died. We cannot ignore our continuing obligation to tens of thousands of wounded US veterans, and of hundreds of thousands of them returning with PTSD and traumatic brain injury.

We cannot ignore the fact that over 100,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed since the beginning of the war. The incidence of PTSD in the youth of Iraq is immense, but swept under the rug. Two million Iraqis have become refugees in other countries, and another two million are displaced within Iraq. The US has spent (borrowing from China, et al), $750 billion on this war, and that does not include interest on the war debt nor the decades of health expenditures needed for our veterans.
 
So, as we observe the beginning of the eighth year, have no illusions as to whether this has been a “good” war. More immediately, it is necessary to press for an end to this war. President Obama promised on Feb 27, 2009 that all US “combat” troops would be home by August 31st, 2010. And, the agreement signed by Iraq and the US in the latter days of the Bush administration mandates that all US troops be out of Iraq by December 31st, 2011, with no US military bases to be kept in Iraq. That agreement also specifies that Iraq can hold a referendum on an earlier date for total US withdrawal, with the US agreeing to obey its result. General Odierno has suggested that we may have tens of thousands of troops in Iraq after December 31st, 2011.
 
We cannot undo the tragedy of the Iraq war. We can and must do the following:

1) keep all pressure possible on President Obama and the US Government to not backslide on the commitments to exit Iraq;
2) recognize that the history of the Iraq war is being rewritten, but only if we allow it;
3) let’s do something productive with the savings from ending of the Iraq war -like, at least let’s not invest it in another war.