4,000 dead grim reminders to US of human cost of Iraq war
By Carlos Hamann
Agence France-Presse
First Posted 14:01:00 03/24/2008
WASHINGTON -- The 4,000 US military personnel killed in Iraq is a reminder to the US public of the human cost of the unpopular war, which remains a hot political topic as the country approaches presidential elections in November.
The grim milestone comes just days after the fifth anniversary of the US-led invasion that toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein. The US military quickly crushed Saddam's forces, but failed to win the peace.
Five years later, US politicians debate how to start drawing down some of the 158,000 US troops in Iraq -- including the 'surge' of 30,000 troops that US President George W. Bush ordered in January 2007 -- without eroding any security gains.
For Bush, the answer is clear. "Removing Saddam Hussein from power was the right decision, and this is a fight America can and must win," he said at a March 19 event, signaling no swift end to his policy.
The two Democratic presidential hopefuls, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, both say that if elected they intend to quickly start pulling most combat brigades out of Iraq, leaving a rump force to combat Al-Qaeda.
Iraq is "a war we cannot win," Clinton said on March 17.
Republican nominee-elect John McCain however insists the war against Islamic extremists is worth the price. "The surge is working," he told CNN recently, adding that withdrawal would mean "that Al-Qaeda wins."
Polls show that interest in the war among the US public has been overtaken by the country's economic crisis, the US presidential campaign, and belief that the 'surge' brought down violence in the war-torn country.
A CBS television poll out March 21 showed that 43 percent of those surveyed think the war is going "somewhat well" compared to only 22 percent in June and 33 percent in September. Also, 42 percent believed that the "surge" of troops was having a positive effect, up from 17 percent in June.
However 54 percent are still against the war, and nearly 60 percent believe the United States should never have invaded. Five years ago, 70 percent of the US public supported Bush's decision to invade.
When US Vice President Dick Cheney was recently queried about polls showing that most Americans believe the war was not worth fighting, his response was "So?"
The government "cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls," Cheney said, describing Saddam's overthrow and US efforts to build a democracy in Iraq as a "huge accomplishment."
On an unannounced March 17-18 visit to Iraq Cheney said he saw "phenomenal" and "dramatic" security improvements, and said he was ready to report "that we are making significant progress in Iraq."
Yet on the day of his arrival at least 43 people were killed and 73 wounded in a bombing near a Shiite shrine in the central Iraq city of Karbala.
Cheney's secretive trip contrasted sharply with the visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad to Baghdad on March 2-3, where he was welcomed with flowers and kisses in public ceremonies.
Despite US sentiment against the war, demonstrations marking the March 20 anniversary in several US cities failed to draw the kind of crowds seen either at protests before the war began, or in the first years of the war.
By the most conservative tally, the war in Iraq has already cost the United States more than $400 billion.
Broader estimates developed by Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz estimates the total bill could surpass $3 trillion.
General David Petraeus, who commands the US-led forces in Iraq, and US ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker are scheduled to make a progress report on the war to the US Congress on April 8-9.
|
