Friday, March 21, 2008 | 2:06 a.m.
On the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war, new national polls show that nearly 66 percent of the American people do not believe President Bush when he says progress in the country has been worth the cost in lives and money.
They have good reasons for believing that way.
Nearly 4,000 men and women have died in Iraq while serving in the U.S. military. A majority of the deaths, tragically, were the result of roadside bombs, for which the Bush administration had not prepared.
About 30,000 members of the U.S. military have been wounded. The Bush administration had not prepared for that, and many of the wounded were subjected to substandard conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Unforeseen sectarian fighting has led to tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians being shot, tortured and blown up.
As for the war’s financial cost, the Congressional Research Service estimates that $600 billion all of it borrowed has been spent so far. The San Francisco Chronicle reported this week that interest will add another $615 billion, that $280 billion is needed to rebuild our depleted military and that $500 billion is needed to cover disability benefits and health care for Iraq veterans.
A new book authored by two noted economists Columbia University professor and Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard University professor Laura Bilmes says the war’s long-term cost will total $3 trillion.
And what tangible result does the United States have to show for itself after so much sacrifice? That’s a hard question to answer.
Iraq’s government, which is leaning toward Iran, cannot yet even begin to cope with the country’s many crises, including the ongoing sectarian bloodletting. Even Bush and our military leaders say 150,000 U.S. troops must remain indefinitely in Iraq and in harm’s way to prevent a complete collapse of order.
Five years ago Bush engaged in fear mongering to promote his desire to invade Iraq. Now he’s in denial, at least publicly, about what he has wrought. On Wednesday he said, “The battle in Iraq is noble, it is necessary, it is just.”
Yes, and Saddam Hussein was plotting to attack America with weapons of mass destruction.
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