WASHINGTON (AFP) — Americans mark the fifth anniversary of the launch of the Iraq war on Wednesday more concerned about the ailing economy than the future of the conflict in which nearly 4,000 US soldiers have died.
A collapsing home mortgage market, the falling US dollar and spiraling energy costs appear to have supplanted the dragging war effort in the consciousness of many Americans since the start of the US-led war.
The US military intervention until recently dominated US political life, and had been anticipated to be the major talking point of the current election campaign to choose a successor to President George W. Bush.
Bush leaves office in January 2009, bequeathing to his successor the intractable military and political stalemate that started with his "Operation Iraqi Freedom."
The first US bombing missions were launched at 21:30 pm on March 19, 2003 in the United States, which was already 5:30 am in Baghdad on March 20.
Bush has dispatched Vice President Dick Cheney to Iraq to mark the anniversary, and is planning to hold a speech at the Pentagon Wednesday to "thank our men and women in uniform for the hard work they've done," said US national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe.
"He'll talk about some of the work they did in the initial invasion, the work they've done over the last five years, the challenges we faced, the progress that has been made lately -- but then of course there is still more work to be done," Johndroe said.
It is far from clear, however, that Americans will be listening as attentively as the president would like.
According to a Gallup poll published in the USA Today newspaper, three in four Americans say they believe the United States to be in a recession -- even if the US government refuses to call it that, with a record number of bankruptcies and home foreclosures.
Although much of the American outrage over the war appears to have been siphoned off by jitters over the foundering US economy, the war remains a divisive issue.
The current presidential candidates to replace Bush in the November elections are divided between those would withdraw troops quickly -- like Democratic US senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton -- and those who would keep US forces in Iraq after the end of Bush's term in office, like Republican contender John McCain.
Whatever the general national mood, leftwing activists said Tuesday they will ensure that much noise and fuss highlights the war anniversary, with planned protests and acts of civil disobedience this weekend.
"The war was based on lies. One million Iraqis have died, five million have been made into refugees, tens of thousands of US soldiers and marines have been killed or wounded," said Brian Becker with one well-known protest group, the ANSWER Coalition.
"People all over the world are taking to the streets to protest against one of the great crimes of the modern era," Becker said, predicting that thousands would take part in planned demonstrations in San Francisco, throughout the state of Florida, and in New York City, Chicago and Seattle.
Johndroe, meanwhile, said Bush next week would hold a series of meetings as he crafts his own Iraq policy during his final months in office.
"He will hear from the State Department, the Joint Chiefs (top US military advisers) he will hear from the central command as well, so he'll hear a lot of suggestions, recommendations and updates from various components of the government," he said.
In April, the US leader has meetings planned with Washington's ambassador in Iraq Ryan Crocker, and the top US military commander there, General David Petraeus.
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