2,000 dead in Iraq a time for grief and realism

When a U.S. soldier dies in Iraq, the pain that sears through his or her family is nearly unbearable. And a persistent question nags: Was itworth it?

Was it worth it for kids like 3year- old Savannah Weaver to grow up without her father? For mothers like Paula Hylinski to now grieve till her own dying day for a lost daughter? For widows like Christine Bellavia to struggle with knowing she and her late husband won’t have the children they so desperatelywanted?

For the rest of the nation, the deaths don’t bring nearly the same devastation. After more than two and a half years of grinding combat, few make front pages of newspapers or a mention on the TV news. But this week they did because they passed a psychologically painful marker: a U.S. death toll of 2,000.

It prompts the nation to ask the same question: Has it been worth it? Polls show that most Americans now don’t think so. And the urgent follow-on thought: Can it, then, be made worthwhile going forward?

They are dif @ cult questions, in which patriotism, pride, history and national security are bound up. They are made more so by a litany of mistakes: erroneous assertions about weapons of mass destruction, a rush to war with few allies, failure to plan adequately for the aftermath, ever-changing rationales for the war, endless spin at odds To 2,000: Army Staff Sgt. George Alexander is among latest U.S. deaths.

with reality. One fact underscores

how plans went awry: More U.S.

troops were killed this month in

Iraq than died in March 2003,

when the United States invaded.

As dreadful as it is, the 2,000

milestone fails to embody the

war’s wider death toll: an estimated 30,000 Iraqi civilians;

about 300 U.S. civilians and contractors; nearly 100 British

troops. And more than 15,000

U.S. soldiers have been wounded

in combat, many saved by medical advances only to have their lives shattered in other ways: lost limbs, shot nerves, paralysis.

Despite all the costs and all the mistakes, Iraq isworth @ ghting for. Not because the decision to go to warwas the right one, but because al-Qaeda has since declared Iraq to be its prime battleground. And so it is — one where the outcome is in doubt.

Thisweek’s of @ cial voting results, showing that Iraqis overwhelmingly approved a constitution, are encouraging. But any hope of bringing peace to Iraq — let alone democracy — i s likely to require many more years, lives sacri @ ced and billions of dollars.

The Vietnam War demonstrated the importance of psychological moments — and credible explanations. Americans turned against that con D ict in part because leaders did not level. Using this moment to candidly discuss the challenge ahead is the best way to honor those who have sacri @ ced so much.

AP