Updated on
Summary
Almost seven years after the first bombs in the war to oust Saddam Hussein, Iraqis went about their business Friday with little observance of the anniversary, looking to the future with a mixture of trepidation and hope. The seven-year anniversary comes as Iraqis await results from the country's second nationwide parliamentary election, a key milestone that will determine who will oversee Iraq as US forces go home. There was little fanfare in Baghdad and around the country for an event many Iraqis first viewed with hope only to see it sour into sorrow and anger as the invasion unleashed rampant sectarian violence. At least 4,386 US military personnel have died in Iraq since the war began, according to an Associated Press count. According to figures compiled by Iraq's Human Rights Ministry and released last fall, 85,694 people were killed from the beginning of 2004 to Oct. 31, 2008 and 147,195 were wounded. The figures include Iraqi civilians, military and police but do not cover US military deaths, insurgents, or foreigners, including contractors. And it did not include the first months of the war after the 2003 US-led invasion. However, those figure are widely considered a minimum because many so many deaths went unreported. The war in Iraq has cost more than $712 billion, according to the National Priorities Project.
