HONG KONG — Five years after the toppling of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, the United States has precious little to show for its $3 trillion war, except for more than 4,000 American military dead (1,000 more than perished in the World Trade Center attacks of 9/11), 150,000 Iraqis killed, 1.5 million refugees who have fled abroad from warlordism and sectarian strife, and daily continuing grief in homes in Iraq and America.
In the U.S., media attention was recently focused on the congressional testimony of Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, and the implications of how many U.S. troops will come home and when. It is a pity that the U.S. has become so insular. In reality, the immense expenditure and the continuing deaths in Iraq are only the tip of the iceberg of the true damage, not merely to the U.S. but also to this fragile planet called Earth.
Deaths are only part of the sad toll. The occupiers have failed to create a society in which Iraqis can enjoy basic daily necessities, let alone the democracy and freedom that U.S. President George W. Bush promised when he launched his latter-day crusade against Hussein and his illusory weapons of mass destruction.