5 years +

i've given a lot of thought to what it means that today is the 5th anniversary of the start of the invasion of iraq. i don't know if "staying the course" will be the best or worst decision 50 or even 100 years from now. when i think back to where i was five years ago - reporting in missouri - it hits me how long ago that really was. we knew the first strike was coming, we just didn't know exactly when. i can still remember standing in the newsroom and seeing the story break - green and black video, with occasional bright flashes - across every tv screen. my producer sent our team to the local mosque to capture reaction from the local imam and other members. i don't know if any were iraqi, obviously, all were muslim. i recall thinking, this is it, we've taken a turn we can't easily reverse from - it was a little surreal actually. my entire journalism "career" has been with the backdrop of war, and that is a scary thought, because sometimes i feel like this is all old hat. but i saw this piece in a ap article last week, and to be honest, it has stayed with me for days now - it so clearly highlights how not-common it all is. it talks about the civilian death toll in iraq:

At the height of unrest from November 2006 to August 2007, on average approximately 65 Iraqis died each day as a result of violence. As conditions improved, the daily death toll steadily declined. It reached its lowest point in more than two years on January 2008, when on average 20 Iraqis died each day. Those numbers have since jumped. In February, approximately 26 Iraqis died each day as a result of violence, and so far in March, that number is up to 39 daily. These figures reflect the months in which people were found, and not necessarily -- in the case of mass graves -- the months in which they were killed.

the low point was 20 iraqis each day - it is an entire generation of people, many of them men in their 20's, that are being killed. not to mention how many u.s. and coalition troops have been killed and don't get me started on the veterans that are coming home to a despicably-damaged VA system. what are we doing to our world? i don't support the immediate withdrawal of american troops, i think that leaves iraq more vulnerable than ever. but can we afford to continue - morally, monetarily, and mentally - at this rate? sometimes i wish we could turn back the clock, maybe i would never have had to see muslims of all types flock to that missouri mosque to pray for the days & events to come. maybe i would never have had to ask the imam what he thinks this means for muslims around the world. maybe i wouldn't have had to hear him say that this will greatly damage the relationship and trust other countries will have in us. but, this is 2008 and turning back the clock isn't possible. what is possible is learning from the past five years and hoping that whatever policy we pursue in the future will take into account the lasting consequences of those decisions.