5 years on...

march 19th marks the 5th 'anniversary' of the american invasion of iraq in 2003.

since then it has lasted almost as long as world war II and has cost almost as much.

amazingly, for the 'world's greatest nation', only one of its original aims, the overthrow of saddam hussein, has been acheived.

of the others, one was never going to be obtainable, since there never were any weapons of mass destruction to be destroyed, and success in bringing democracy to the middle east is as good as your next suicide bomber. we just don't have 'em over here, do we george?

conservative republicans still think that victory in iraq is within their grasp. perhaps it is because they are the ones isolated from all the death, chaos, blood, personal loss, grief, anger and destruction that iraqis have witnessed since the american invasion.

i'm sure a few suicide bombers in d.c, new york, and crawford, texas, etc. would have people squarking...not to mention a few "breaking news" CNN reports...unlike the almost daily repetition of violence in iraq that civilians have lived with.

this past monday, vice-president dick cheney came to baghdad and talked about "the phenomenal improvement in security". that day more than 60 iraqis were killed in bomb attacks...i wonder how iraqis felt about this statement. perhaps they viewed it with the same misty eyed romanticism as they did george bush's remarks about being a soldier on the front line in afghanistan.

"It must be exciting for you ... in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger. You're really making history, and thanks,"

romantic? yes. it must be very romantic knowing that your enemy is trying to kill you with IED's at every available opportunity while you're away from home not knowing if you will make it back. must be very romantic being shot at and having your mates killed and wounded.

the so-called war on terror has done real damage to america's reputation. the united states state department can hardly be taken seriously when it criticises other countries in their use of torture, when its very own president vetos a waterboarding bill after the the world has been shown the disturbing images coming out of abu ghraib prison, and continues to operate guantanamo bay, a military prison, detaining prisoners who are not protected under the geneva convention.

the democracy in the middle east you call for is really hypocrisy, and the rest of world knows it.