The war in Iraq is over and I have heard very little reaction from those around me, certainly no ticker tape parade. But among the interested and informed, I have heard much speculation on the reasons why its end isn’t the topic of conversation.

I’ve heard that our involvement in Iraq has been a long and ugly part of recent American History and we just don’t want to hear about it anymore, we would like to forget. Some want to forget for political reasons and others just want to forget because the last eight years were so painful. Some say that we avoid reflection to avoid offending our troops, many of them just now returning home after numerous tours; that seeking truth and consequence of our actions may make them feel as though their sacrifices weren’t worthwhile.

There are those like my twenty seven year old daughter who remind me that little attention was paid all of the way through the war so why would we expect it now, “Wasn’t it the Bush plan that we not be connected to the war, that it not affect our day to day life?”  She noted that it was policy under the Bush administration not to allow photos of soldier’s caskets returning home—effectively shielding the public from the cost of our actions.

But not seeing and understanding our history accurately is what causes us to repeat mistakes of the past. We must look at the war in Iraq and cite clearly it’s many consequences so that they may never happen again. 

Many from my generation lived through Vietnam and were sure that such a mistake could never possibly be repeated. But those who designed the war in Iraq had never served in Vietnam. They chose not to, they never had the experiences that would have made them aware of the consequences of invasion and occupation.  They chose to hide their motives and rationale for the invasion from the public who was paying for it, and most importantly with the warriors who were to wage it for them.

It was customary for Native Americans when returning from a battle to share with their people the horrors and brutality of battle so that the others would not glorify the battle, so that the pain would be shared by all.

In the last number of years it was the brave and courageous members of the organization, Iraq Veterans Against the War, who stood up against the manufactured narrative of the occupation, shared the horrors of battle, and told the American people that the war was wrong. They staged hearings in Washington and throughout the country to report their experiences, to expose the true cost of the war. They creatively protested and stood proud and tall as a group in many of the national demonstrations against the war.

Like the Native American warriors they were not afraid to share what keeps them awake at night.  They told about a bombing in Fallujah where afterwards white phosphorous was used to burn everything, they were then ordered to go in and count the dead and were met by the horror of a charred populace—men, women, and children grimly scattered.

Soldiers spoke of speeding through streets to avoid IED’s and running down women and children who were on the roadway. Female soldiers spoke of being sexually assaulted by other soldiers. Many faced a second and third deployment while already fighting PTSD. Many chose to take their own lives from the horror and turmoil of their experience.

Over 4,800 families faced the tragic loss of loved ones who died in Iraq. One mother, Cindy Sheehan, whose son, Casey, was killed in Iraq in 2004, asked the president to tell her what noble cause her son died for. She protested outside of the Bush ranch in Crawford Texas for a month waiting for an answer from the president when thousands of passionate supporters joined her.  She was ridiculed by the administration, some in the press, and a carefully designed campaign on public opinion.

Carlos Arredondo, upon learning of his son, Alex’s, death in Iraq covered himself with gasoline and set himself ablaze inside the van driven by the Marines who came to deliver the news.  After weeks of healing from his burns he spent the following years walking through city after city representing Gold Star Families for Peace, pulling behind him a casket on wheels draped with the American flag. On top were his son’s Marine issued boots and a photo of his son Alex with his younger brother Brian. Only last week, December 20, 2011 Brian Arredondo committed suicide due to depression in part caused by the death of his brother, Alex.

Over 30,182 young people have been injured in the Iraq war. One of those was Tomas Young, who at 25 years old, became paralyzed from a bullet to his spine after serving in Iraq for less than a week. His story was featured in the documentary film Body of War. After all that he had been through, Tomas had the courage to speak out against the war alongside many Gold Star Families. He allowed people to see how difficult his life had become.  He once said, “Talking to my ex-wife about my erectile issues, having my mom stick the catheter in—those are all very intense things to watch. But the more people see about my daily life the more they know:  not to make impetuous decisions; and this war has personal consequences and ramifications that aren’t shown on the nightly news.”

His loving, and patient mother, Cathy Smith is but one of the over 30,182 parents whose lives are forever changed due to the war in Iraq. She fought tirelessly with the VA to get Tomas the treatment he deserved.

And that number doesn’t include the more than 212,000 combat veterans who have already been treated for PTSD. The financial commitments for treating these veterans will cost nearly $700 billion plus nearly $600 billion in disability payments to the wounded veterans. It is estimated that the total cost of the war will be close to $4 trillion. The other consequences and human costs are immeasurable.

In the recent political discussions you won’t hear any of the Republican candidates taking responsibility for either supporting or voting for every aspect of the war in Iraq and its effect on the resulting deficit, loss of jobs, and cutting of social programs. None of these costs meant anything to them at the time. It’s as if it never happened.

When speaking to the troops at Ft Bragg about the end of the war, President Obama spoke of the battles fought in Iraq, never mentioning the weapons of mass destruction that were never found, the lies, the years of intimidation for opposing the war, and the myriad of missteps along the way.

He never mentioned the nearly one million Iraqis who died in the war or the fact that there are still less than 32% of Iraqis that have access to clean water and most still only have a few hours of electricity a day. Another fact not mentioned was that the International Red Cross recently reported that there are nearly one million widows raising children in Iraq and there are over 4 million orphaned children. And possibly one of the most secretive and under reported results of the war is the great number of deformed children that are being born in Fallujah as a result of the United States military’s use of Depleted Uranium , and White Phosphorus.

Our country has had eight years of being told that all Muslims are our enemy which is still hard to remove from some susceptible minds and makes it easier to accept the fact that so many Iraqi’s died and that we as Americans forced so many people from their homes.

I have come to know a few of the over 4 million refugees that had to leave their homes due to the American invasion. Over half of them ended up in Syria, Jordan, and other neighboring countries. The others were internally displaced. Many of the refugees who left Iraq will never return which is one of the reasons that it will be so hard for Iraq to recover from the American invasion. One refugee that I met in Amman, Jordan in 2007 had been a social worker in Iraq and had left with his wife and children. He is now living in Dearborn, Michigan. Recently, he sent me a link to a YouTube documentary about the organization, Iraq Veterans Against the War. He said that it made him feel less alone in his thoughts. He wrote “If they do not speak out loud, it'll continue repeating itself elsewhere, while the ongoing ones sustain themselves …It's a collective action that needs insistence and dedication.”

The war in Iraq and the war in Vietnam have both left many scars. Most people would like to forget these two wars ever happened. Forgetting won’t keep this from happening again. The Iraq Veterans Against the War need our support in speaking the truth about the Iraq war, no matter how hard it is for some to hear. There is no better way to show your appreciation for what they have gone through. But most importantly, the Iraqi people need our help to rebuild facilities that will desalinate and purify the water for people to drink and they need help rebuilding the electrical plants so that the people there have enough electricity to lead safe lives. Helping the Iraqi families to have better lives will not only help our national security it shows the Iraqi families that there are Americans who care about the victims of war. It is the least that we should do.

Kathy Murphy has been the Cofounder and Coordinator of Iraqi Health Now, a nonprofit project of Healing the Children, since 2006. She is a Gold Star sister of the Vietnam war, a member of Kalamazoo Nonviolent Opponents of War, and an activist for peace and justice.