The Obama administration, together with the American public at large, would like to think that the United States has closed the door on its bloody adventure in Iraq. The March 19 statement marking the 10-year anniversary of the U.S. invasion by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, that “the war has been brought to an end,” reflects this myopic, if widely held, view.

Hagel’s modest and subdued remembrance at the Pentagon offered a marked contrast to the sickening “bring it on” bravado that characterized the Bush administration's destruction of the country.

A recent tally by the Costs of War project at Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies counted 190,000 deaths directly attributable to the decade-long war and a cost to the United States of $2.2 trillion. These extraordinary sums, however, only offer a glimpse into the horrific costs of a generation of conflict that, notwithstanding the American retreat, continues to consume Iraq to this day.

Not one voice has been raised during the Arab Spring — from Marrakesh to Aleppo — in any kind of call to emulate the Iraqi example championed by Washington.