We are five years into the War in Iraq. Not the fifth commemoration or the day of remembrance, but five years in. That is, we’re still in it. People, Iraqis mostly, are still dying. At least 200 people were arrested yesterday for protesting and the NY Times ran a series of photographic reflections by war photographers. We’re five years into this war with three presidential candidates intent on keeping at least some semblance of the occupation intact. Estimates of Iraqi deaths range from about 90,000 to a million. Can we estimate how many more? The number of dead American soldiers is about to cap 4000. One in five (5 million) Iraqis who are not dead are displaced, internal and external refugees spread across the Middle East, Europe and North America. The United States, not least because it cannot fathom letting that many Arabs into this country, will allow entry to only a tiny fraction of these refugees, despite responsibility for their displacement. Tom Engelhardt writes, in the Nation:

Sure, we’re just passing the fifth anniversary of the moment when, on March 19, 2003, as cruise missiles were heading for Baghdad, George W. Bush told the American people: "My fellow citizens, at this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger…. My fellow citizens, the dangers to our country and the world will be overcome. We will pass through this time of peril and carry on the work of peace. We will defend our freedom. We will bring freedom to others and we will prevail." But that’s no reason not to write the first sixth-anniversary-of-the-Iraq-War article.