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The Iraq War Is Not Over

Geoffrey Aronson writes that while the Iraq War may have ended for Americans, sectarian regional wars are being fought there and in Syria.

Iraqi boys walk near the ruins of a building, which residents and the Local Council claim was bombed during the 2003 Iraq War led by the U.S. forces, in a desert south of Samawa, 270 km (160 miles) south of Baghdad March 14, 2013. Iraq marked the 10th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein on Tuesday.  Picture taken March 15, 2013. REUTERS/Mohammed Ameen (IRAQ - Tags: CONFLICT CIVIL UNREST ANNIVERSARY) - RTR3F899
Iraqi boys walk near the ruins of a building, which residents and officials claim was bombed during the 2003 Iraq War, in a desert south of Samawah, March 14, 2013. — REUTERS/Mohammed Ameen

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.

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