The Cost of War

There is no question that the war has cost many lives on all sides. Estimates put the combined deaths somewhere between 94,000 (the lowest estimate of the Iraq Body Count program as of 2009), and the highest estimate, 1,033,000 (according to the Opinion Research Business survey as of 2007). The Coalition has only made up a fraction of these deaths, yet enough have died to fill over 4,700 coffins(ICasualties.com). Many have debated whether or not enough progress, if any, has been made at that cost. In Bing West's book, No True Glory, he finishes with a concise epilogue on the progress of Fallujah after the most devastating battle of the entire war. The name of the chapter sums up the progress of the war in general, "By Inches, Not Yards".

In the Beginning of 2005, the displaced civilians of Fallujah began to return to their destroyed city. American forces heavily guarded the city and few vehicles could move in or out. The males of military age were fingerprinted and given identity cards to make tracking insurgents in Fallujah easier. In West's words, "Fallujah was the safest town in Iraq, albeit the most heavily guarded"(317). Iraqi police officers were still afraid to wear their uniforms off of the job though. The insurgent, though they lost their safe haven and operating base in Fallujah, could still terrorize residents.

Fallujah showed very little progress, but one must consider that just months before the 2005 Fallujah, Marines were struggling to take the city back from insurgents, who had literally taken over. They were not only able to terrorize police, they were the police. Fallujah is the embodiment of Iraq, where many die, and a lot of time is lost for small gains, but we cannot confuse this with no gains. In 2005, 60% of eligible Iraqis voted in elections. That's progress. Is that worth the cost of 4,700 dead Coalition troops? I honestly couldn't tell you, but I can tell you that many more people have given their lives for causes less then freedom.

If you would like to put faces to the number of Coalition fatalities check out this link to CNN.com. If you would like to see the daily updated casualties of both Iraq and Afghanistan, click here.