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Four Years On

Today marks the end of the fourth year of our occupation of Iraq. Since President Bush launched this ill-conceived bid to secure his legacy as a 'war president', over 3200 American soldiers have died, as have countless Iraqis in the civil war our toppling of the former regime unleashed. All reasons for why turned about to be lies. There were no weapons of mass destruction or links to Al-Qaeda. We continue to be lied to, most recently about the so-called 'surge' which looks to be more of a slow escalation. Our presence has not made us any safer from terrorism and has in fact increased the threat.

For the soldiers fighting who return wounded, some face deplorable conditions during their convalescence and miles of red tape and bureaucratic hurdles. Still others who would otherwise be unfit to do so are being sent back to the killing sands. The repeated and over extended deployments of our forces have left the military ill-prepared to respond to other conflicts, all in a vain attempt to keep Bush from having to face the reality that his war was lost before it ever began.

There are many lessons to be learned from our misadventure in Iraq, and not just the insouciant ones put forth by some of the administration's most vehement supporters.

More commentary from Ayub Nuri, Fixer, Michael Linn Jones and Arianna has a roundup at her place.

(Filed at State of the Day)