The war in Iraq began on March 19, 2003. It is now the longest military conflict to involve the United States other than the Vietnam War. At this writing, the war in Iraq has cost
some 90,000 Iraqi lives. It has taken the life of
4,298 coalition troops, among whom almost 4,000 Americans. It has cost American taxpayers
almost $700 billion and may cost up to $2 trillion if the occupation lasts another five years.
For all the costs of war, there are more questions today than there are answers, and possibly more problems today than there were before the invasion, when problems—severe though those were—were contained within Iraq. Here’s an analytical overview of the last five years, framed by attempted answers to three questions: What’s been gained? What’s been lost? Where to go from here?
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