In March 2003, America embarked on a war in Iraq intended to stabilize the region, remove a tyrant from power, reduce the possibility of terrorist attacks on America and her interests, and diminish the threat of weapons of mass destruction.

Five years later, Saddam Hussein is dead. The three other objectives have been met completely, partially or not at all, depending on your perspective and political viewpoint.

The cost to the United States has been massive, far exceeding the Bush Administration’s initial projections and overreaching the general public’s perception of the benefits of the Iraq war.

• The death count of American military personnel reached 4,000 when four U.S. soldiers were killed in a bomb attack Sunday in Baghdad. More than 20,000 have been injured, many permanently. And untold thousands more suffer from psychological and emotional disorders related to combat.

• Two Nobel-prize winning economists are predicting that the cost to America’s treasury for the war will be more than $3 trillion. According to costofwar.com, the U.S. spends $341.4 million a day on the war effort in Iraq, with the total spent already exceeding $500 billion.

Iraq does now have democratic elections, though they are stunted by violence and the prevailing threat of violence. While some in Iraq hail the United States as the country’s savior, others believe America has taken a country that was stable (however brutal Saddam’s reign) and turned it into a purgatory of death and destruction:

• Iraq’s Ministry of Health puts the Iraqi death count at 180,000. Other independent studies place it between 600,000 and 1 million.

• Two million Iraqis have been displaced inside their own country and 2 million others have left. Only about 2,000 of the displaced have found refuge in the U.S. Sweden has taken in more.

On the fifth anniversary of the war last week, President Bush defended the war by saying “this is a fight America can and must win.”

But how is victory defined? And what costs are we willing to pay?

Bush touts his 2007 surge as helping quell the violence in Iraq and, since last fall, violence has fallen off. But there has been an uptick of violence lately. The killing goes on.

The president told the media last week that he will prosecute the war as he sees fit until the end of his presidency. The next president will have the gargantuan headache of dealing with the mess we got into five years ago. If Republican John McCain is elected, the war could go on indefinitely. He has spoken in favor of increasing troops there and is opposed to a timetable for troop withdrawal.

Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama favor a measured withdrawal. We welcome their plans to do so. The war has become increasingly unpopular; polls show that 60 percent of Americans want it to end.

Meanwhile, we know nothing will be done until January. At that time, America needs to begin developing a concrete plan to end this Iraq occupation and start the healing process for both countries.