War in Iraq ends quietly devoid of any celebration

“The Iraq war was fought by
one-half of one percent of us. And unless we were part of that
small group or had a relative who was, we went about our lives as
usual most of the time: no draft, no new taxes, no changes. Not so
for the small group who fought the war and their
families.”

~ Journalist Bob
Schieffer

A friend, an Air Force veteran,
wondered why she’s not seeing more celebrations marking the end
last week of the United States’ war in Iraq. She’s right; the end
of the war is being marked very quietly. We don’t see any of the
iconic celebrations that marked the end of the World War II, for
example. I saw more jubilation over the end of the Don’t Ask, Don’t
Tell policy than I saw over the end of the Iraq War.

The war ended officially on Thursday,
Dec. 15, with the encasing of the colors ceremony. In 2008, the
Bush Administration negotiated an agreement, called SOFA, that
called for the United States to leave Iraq by Dec. 31, 2011.

The last U.S. troops left the country
on Dec. 18, marking the end of a stunningly costly war no matter
how you measure it. NPR reports that the nearly nine-year Iraq War
is estimated to have cost $800 billion, the lives of almost 4,500
American troops, and an estimated 100,000 Iraqi lives. The cost to
the United States will continue for decades as we care for the
32,000 soldiers injured in the war, many with injuries so severe
they will require treatment for life-long effects.

Of course, the war had a last American
casualty: David Emanuel Hickman, 23, of Greensboro, NC. He was
killed by an improvised explosive device on Nov. 14. He joins a
long list that includes a South County resident, Jeramy Ailes of
Gilroy, who was only 22 years old when he was killed in Fallujah
almost exactly seven years earlier than Hickman.

And then there are the loved ones of
the troops who were injured and died: They’ll feel the effects and
pay the price for the rest of their lives, too. CBS news reports
that “since U.S. troops first entered Iraq, 8,794 Americans lost a
son or daughter; 3,141 lost a parent; and 2,468 lost a husband or
wife.” 

As journalist Michael Ware put it in
Newsweek, “Perhaps we should grieve for the living. Those
left behind, without a father or a mother. Those who must now face
the rest of their days living a war without end.”

The effects of the war will be felt in
Iraq for generations as well – not only by the families who had
dead or injured loved ones, but also by the country’s landscape,
politics, economy, and psyche. The country is politically fragile,
as Reuters put it, and “divided across sectarian and ethnic
lines.”

My friend is aware of all of that
context. Still, she wondered: Certainly the end of a war is
something to celebrate; why aren’t we?

I think it has to do with the
misguided nature of the war effort. As Rep. Nancy Pelosi said,
“President George W. Bush led us into the Iraq war on the basis of
unproven assertions without evidence; he embraced a radical
doctrine of pre-emptive war unprecedented in our history.” Yes,
that war toppled Saddam Hussein, but it’s fair to wonder: Was it
worth such a cost?

What’s more, the end of the Iraq War
is coming on the heels of an organic, grassroots revolution in
Libya that was faster and dramatically less expensive by every
measure. The way that the Gaddafi regime in Libya ended makes the
Bush Administration’s strategy of trying to impose regime change
and democracy in Iraq look even more foolish than before.

Schieffer identified another reason
we’re not celebrating the end of the Iraq War: It didn’t
dramatically affect affect most Americans’ daily lives. Unlike
World War II or the Vietnam War, we had no draft. We weren’t
encouraged to buy bonds or ration staples or plant victory gardens.
We put the cost of the war on a credit card, forcing our children
and grandchildren to pay for it rather than taxing ourselves.

Am I glad the war in Iraq is over?
Yes. Our service members, including my niece, are home, having
served honorably in difficult circumstances. I’m thrilled that the
courageous one-half of one percent of us who served in Iraq have
finished their work there. But a celebration? No; it just feels
terribly inappropriate.

Lisa Pampuch is a technical
editor and former city editor. She lives in Morgan Hill with her
husband and two children. You can reach her at
li*********@in***.com