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March 19, 2006EditorialOn anniversary of war, we're lost in the desertWhen the United States invaded Iraq three years ago today Americans had been told over and over that Saddam Hussein posed a deadly, imminent threat to the nation.National Security Adviser (now Secretary of State) Condoleeza Rice warned of "mushroom clouds" sprouting over America. Vice President Dick Cheney repeatedly cited Saddam's alleged nuclear capabilities. He predicted Americans would be greeted as liberators. President Bush, again and again, cited 9/11 and the war on terror as justification. We now know the bitter truth. No nukes, no links to 9/11 or al-Qaida, no flowers in the gun barrels, no justification. But that truth has come at a horrific cost, and the counting is far from over. More than 2,300 Americans are dead and more than 16,600 wounded. Many of those wounded have lost legs or arms or both. An untold number of Iraqi civilians have also died. Responsible estimates put the number at more than 16,000. The U.S. has spent an estimated $248 billion on the war; reliable sources estimate the total will top $2 trillion. To help pay for it all, a host of domestic programs have been cut and the nation has amassed a record debt. In 2005 alone, Congress cut $39 billion from Medicaid, Medicare and student loan subsidies. Last week, the Senate raised the ceiling on the national debt to $9 trillion and agreed to borrow an additional $781 billion to prevent the first-ever default on Treasury notes. Single-year deficits are expected to hit $350 billion this year and next. In Iraq, the first-ever meeting of the new parliament last week was immediately adjourned - indefinitely - due to political infighting. Since the dome of the revered Askariya mosque in Samarra was blown up Feb. 22, more than 500 people have died in fighting that many fear is a preview of a coming civil war. Just last week, the bodies of 87 men and boys killed execution-style were found in makeshift graves. Insurgents are still streaming into Iraq, the mother of all terrorist training camps, from across the Muslim world. The news that makes all the other bad tidings pale by comparison, however, is that not only is there no coherent plan to get out of Iraq, President Bush is now rattling his saber (the lives of American troops) - at Iran. Just three days before the anniversary of the Iraq invasion, the president renewed his commitment to his strike-first policy when dealing with terrorists. On its face, such a policy makes perfect sense. Stop the blow before it comes. But given this president's track record, any re-affirmation of a willingness to make war on suspected enemies should strike fear into the heart of every American. It was no coincidence that in the very same address, the president also rebuked Iran over allegations that it is secretly amassing nuclear weapons. It was an eerie echo of the claims - claims later proved false - made in early 2003 about Iraq. And look where those led us. Lost in all this is what might have been, what could have been, what should have been. Incredibly, the people who planned and pulled off the 9/11 attacks are still alive and well, still making bombs and plans to use them. Our pursuit of Osama bin Laden failed at the most critical moment because the military leaders on the ground didn't get the support they needed. Our borders, despite the hundreds of millions we've spent to create the Homeland Security behemoth, are a sieve. The Transportation Security Authority is, at best, inept. The administration is spying on Americans and foreigners alike. The FBI is back to infiltrating peace groups. We are a nation literally wandering in the desert, looking for leadership. Unless there is dramatic change at the top, this year will look like last year, and next year will bring more of the same. We need to find a way out of Iraq, strike al-Qaida decisive blows, defang Iran without war and bring North Korea to heel. We need leadership. But that's something the president - and Congress as a whole - seem to be fresh out of.
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