Eight Years, One New President Later, Mission Still Not Accomplished in Iraq

COMMENTARY | On May 1, 2003, a confident President George W. Bush made an A-Gear landing on the Navy's super carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. Wearing a flight suit, the commander-in-chief had a banner unfurled that read "Mission Accomplished." What was to be a historic photo opportunity -- and a symbolic statement commemorating the end of the war in Iraq -- has become what Time termed "Bannergate" by November of the same year.

Decrying the banner as "prematurely boastful," critics of Bush chided his arrogance and search for the limelight. In truth, the ill-advised statement did indeed hail the end of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, but it was only the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom, which began on March 20, 2003, and lasted until its artificially devised end date of Aug. 31, 2010. Even so, the NY Daily News pointed out that 50,000 troops would still stay behind until at least the end of 2011.

Whether the electorate wishes to believe President Bush's later assertions that the "Mission Accomplished" banner was only germane to the mission of the USS Abraham Lincoln -- or wants to jump on the bandwagon of skewering the politician -- is immaterial. The facts show that the war in Iraq dragged on for a grand total of about seven and one half years. The Brookings Institute tallied the costs associated with the military action, and they are staggering:

* In 2003, some 7,300 Iraqi civilian fatalities were recorded. This number would spike in 2006 with 34,500 civilians killed. Since then, the number has been going down.

* There have been 4,452 fatalities among U.S. military personnel between March 19, 2003, and April 26, 2011. Of these, 949 occurred during non-hostile incidents. The deadliest year was 2007 with 904 casualties.

* IEDs cause 39.4 percent of fatalities among U.S. troops.

* The majority of the killed soldiers are white, younger than 22 and members of the Army.

* According to figures from the Department of Defense, 32,074 military personnel were wounded between 2003 and 2011.

* The total dollar amount of appropriations for Operation Iraqi Freedom -- from 2003 to 2011 -- currently totals $801.9 billion.

These facts and figures translate into very real political consequences for politicians in power. The University of Minnesota went to great lengths to chart the approval rating of President Bush and proved that in the aftermath of 9-11, the political leader had a near-90 percent approval rating. At the onset of the Iraq War, his approval rating spiked again and he almost reached 75 percent. Even since that time in 2003, his approval sank steadily until it reached between 25 and 30 percent in 2008.

Although it is too early to find out how poll numbers will shift for President Barack Obama after the capture of Osama bin Laden and the terrorist's subsequent death, Rasmussen shows that the Democratic leader's numbers have been steadily declining. Whereas his approval sat at a heady 62 percent in January 2009, he has since declined to about 46 percent in April 2011. Although it would be foolhardy to assume that the Iraq war was a major catalyst in the president's gradually waning popularity, it is fair to assume that the photos of flag-draped coffins coming home do precious little to boost his status. Of course, the end of the bin Laden era may just raise his political capital to near-2009 numbers.

To be fair, critics -- such as Human Rights Watch -- have been vociferous in their disapproval of Obama's failure to decisively champion the closure of Guantanamo Bay.

"Obama can't keep hoping that a political consensus will form and Congress will make it easy - he has to act to make it happen," says the organization's senior counter-terrorism counsel.

The president did promise to close the embattled facility by January 2010, but -- as outlined by Yahoo! News -- very quietly issued a March 7 executive order that kept it open and operational.

The War in Iraq will undoubtedly factor in hugely in the up and coming presidential election. Whereas the president's failure to heed his original campaign promises could have come back to haunt him, the death of Osama bin Laden just raised his political capital considerably and will most likely cover a multitude of other broken promises.