Imprudent Iraq war heads to inconclusive end

It is somehow appropriate and not surprising that the 7-year-old military intervention in Iraq is petering out to a muddled, inconclusive ending.

The last U.S. combat forces withdrew last week from Iraq. Americans, once so alarmed by the number of combat deaths that they thrust Iraq to the top of the political agenda, hardly took notice. A struggling economy and high unemployment have long since displaced Iraq as the chief concern for voters.

It would be great to celebrate and proclaim "mission accomplished." But we don't suspect President Obama will make that same mistake when he addresses the nation in a few days about the withdrawal of combat forces.

The reality is that Iraq's future remains uncertain. It is still a country divided by religious, tribal and ethnic fault lines. Elections in March produced no clear winner and efforts to form a coalition government have failed. There are no guarantees that in Iraq the U.S. will realize the goal of the Bush-Cheney administration to plant a republic in the fifth largest Arab nation.

Benjamin Franklin reportedly responded, when asked upon leaving the U.S. Constitutional Convention in 1787, whether the new nation had a republic or monarchy, "A republic, if you can keep it." Likewise, whether Iraq will seize the opportunity for representative governance or slip into the type of aristocratic or dictatorial governments that dominate the Arab world is ultimately up to that nation's leaders and people.

Its neighbor, Iran, will certainly stir the pot in hopes of finding a Shiite partner and keeping Iraq as a headache for the U.S.

Invading Iraq was wrong. True, Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator and the world is better off without him, but the planet has plenty of dictators and it is not this nation's job to displace them all. The Iraqi government was not responsible for the 9/11 attacks. It was never a credible threat to the U.S. There were no weapons of mass destruction.

Yet given the task and despite insufficient resources, the American military did its job. So far, 4,415 American troops have died, while many times that number live with permanent disabilities and emotional scars. In 2007 the Congressional Budget Office estimated the total cost of the Iraq war at $1.9 trillion, about $6,300 per U.S. citizen.

As wrong as President Bush was about the invasion, he was right about escalating the fight in 2007. At the time this newspaper opposed that action, as it had the invasion. The former president acted against the advice of his own generals and despite the fact the war's unpopularity had cost his party dearly in the 2006 congressional elections. At the time of the "surge," Iraq stood on the brink of civil war.

Today, the streets of Baghdad are bustling with commerce and people. As U.S. Col. Roger Cloutier told The New York Times after driving through Baghdad, "That's a victory parade for

me."

Iraq has its chance. About 50,000 U.S. troops will remain to provide training and assistance when requested. By agreement with Iraq, all troops should be out by 2011. The State Department is also playing a major role in the transition.

The time is approaching to turn Iraq back to the Iraqis. History will judge whether this endeavor did more harm or more good. But waiting for the perfect time, for the end of any uncertainty, would mean waiting forever.