Gov. Jim Doyle, left, greets members of the Wisconsin Air National Guard’s 115th Fighter Wing as they return to Madison after a two month voluntary tour in Iraq. (AP Photo/Wisconsin State Journal, Joseph W. Jackson III)

After 5 Years in Iraq, Bush Says No End Is In Sight

President George Bush says the war in Iraq will not end anytime soon. Bush talked about the situation on the five-year anniversary of the start of the war.

Bush says the war has been longer and harder than he expected. He also said it has cost more than he planned.

On the other hand, the president said the war is noble. He said it is necessary and it is just. He also said he did not want to do anything that would risk losing recent gains.  

War began March 19, 2003
American troops attacked Iraq on March 19, 2003. Bush ordered the attack. He said at the time that the war was needed to protect the United States.

Bush claimed he had evidence that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was hiding weapons of mass destruction. No such weapons were ever found. Hussein was hanged after major combat ended.

Five years later, the U.S. now has about 158,000 American troops in Iraq. Last year, Bush increased the number of troops in Iraq by 30,000. He said then that the troops were needed to stop violence.

The extra troops are largely credited with helping to cut down on the number of deaths. Thousands of Iraqi civilians have been killed in fighting. 

Some of the extra troops have already been withdrawn. About 18,000 more are scheduled to leave by this summer.  

No date has been set for when the rest can leave. Some critics say troops could stay for 20 or 30 years. They note that U.S. troops are still in Germany and Japan more than 60 years after the end of World War II. 

Bush has said U.S. troops will leave when Iraq has a government that can run the country on its own. The current government of Iraq needs U.S. troops to help it operate.

No one is sure when Iraq will have a functioning government. Iraq is unstable because of religious and ethnic violence.

4,000 U.S. troops and thousands of Iraqi dead
Nearly 4,000 U.S. troops have been killed in the war. Most of them died after major combat ended. The number of civilians deaths is much greater than that of U.S. troops.

The pace of deadly attacks has slowed in the last year. Part of the reason for that is believed to be the success of the extra 30,000 troops. Another reason is thought to be efforts among Iraqi religious leaders to get along.

Add $500 billion or more to human cost
The war has also cost more than $500 billion. But that is the official estimate. Others say the real cost is much higher. They say it could be as much as eight times higher.

The cost of war is hard to determine. Many of the costs will not be known for years to come. For example, wounded veterans will need to be taken care of for decades. Those costs are not yet known.

On the anniversary, Bush went to the Pentagon to deliver a speech about the war. The Pentagon is the building that houses the headquarters of all of the Nation’s military.

Bush told military personnel that U.S. troops are helping Iraqis build a free nation. He also said the war is a major effort to fight the al Qaida terror group.

Bush and others believe terrorists from al Qaida are living in Iraq. Al Qaida is blamed for causing the attacks on the U.S. in 2001. About 3,000 Americans were killed in those attacks.

No firm evidence has shown whether Hussein and Iraq had any ties to al Qaida. But after the war started, it is believed that some terrorists from al Qaida moved to Iraq. Once there, they took part in attacks on U.S. troops, as well as Iraqis