Iraq: The 51st State Of America

This weekend marked the two year anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Protestors around the U.S.A. and around the world marked the anniversary by making renewed calls for the U.S. and Coalition troops to withdraw.

Recent opinion polls continue to show that most Americans are unhappy with the way Bush has handled the Iraq War, and that they believe the war was not worth fighting. Yet, we are also a nation resigned to the fact that we have to do the things necessary to leave Iraq in the most stable condition possible. This is the dilemma thoughtful opponents to the war deal with.

Bush has defended his war these days by claiming it was necessary to rid the world of Saddam Hussein, a man, he says, was a threat to America. In Saturday's radio address Bush continued to push his crusade for freedom around the world, stating, "Only the fire of liberty can purge the ideologies of murder by offering hope to those who yearn to live free."

For my part, it seems quite clear that Iraq has simply become the 51st state of America. Yearly U.S. spending for military and rebuilding expenses easily equals the state budgets of California or New York. Our daily news coverage of events in Iraq, or related to the Iraq War far exceeds that of any other part of our country. We have been told that our lives depend on the success or failure of the "march to freedom" in Iraq. Our military personnel and diplomatic envoys make whatever successes there possible, while at the same time being the cause for most of the failures by becoming the targets of insurgent attacks, or the excuse for Iraqis killing Iraqis.

At some point, many more Americans are going to get sick of this ongoing situation, but I suspect not for the reasons most of the protestors against the war this weekend have been making. It is only a matter of time before the soccer moms and SUV lovers start boiling over about the fact that despite our military intervention and continued presence in the Middle East they continue to pay more and more at the gas pump. Predictions are that we might hit $3 per gallon this summer, or sooner. While that is nothing compared to what Europeans pay for gas, Americans will not sit quietly by as the cost of their God given right to driving gas guzzling vehicles comes face to face with the realities of today's prices.

At some point, people are going to get sick of Iraq being front and center headline news. They're going to get sick of hearing about the fact more than 1500 U.S. soldiers have died and more than 11,000 have been wounded. They're going to get sick of how the Iraq War reminds them of another war of a generation ago fought in the jungles of Southeast Asia that ended so miserably for Americans.

While it is still possible that something positive can come out of what is now happening in the Middle East, it would be naive to believe too hopefully that the region is going to become a flowering meadow of freedom any time soon. There is just too much complicated historical political inertia for such a rosy outcome. The next year could end with a smaller military presence and a stronger Iraqi government. We could see positive transformative changes in Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria. Or things could look mostly the same a year from now as they do now, yet with hundreds more dead U.S. soldiers and thousands more wounded.

The Bush administration has chosen a "fingers crossed" foreign policy. The margin for error is next to nonexistent. Meanwhile Iraq has become the 51st state of America, whether we like it or not. (PBU12)