The five-year anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq is upon us. America is stuck in an imbroglio that has drained our military and our coffers.

As of March 13, the Asso-ciated Press reported that 3,987 members of the U.S. military have died since March 2003.

These are 3,987 soldiers who died for a lie. An addi-tional 29,275 soldiers have been injured between March 19, 2003 and Feb. 27, 2008, according to The Brookings Institution.

Economists Joseph E. Stiglitz and Linda J. Bilmes have estimated that the war has cost $845 billion as of the end of the 2007 fiscal year.

In the weeks running up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, President George W. Bush and his lackeys made the case that Saddam Hussein was harboring weapons of mass destruction. Then-Secretary of State Colin Powell made numerous statements about how Iraq needed to be taken care of.

As Powell said in an interview with Richard Wolffe of Newsweek, "My opinion has always been that Iraq is a dangerous country, it's a dangerous regime. It is developing weapons of mass destruction. And it was something that had to be dealt with sooner or later."

On March 17, 2003, Bush even took the cowboy stance and said, "Saddam Hussein and his sons must leave Iraq within 48 hours. Their refusal to do so will result in military conflict, commenced at a time of our choosing. For their own safety, all foreign nationals—including journalists and inspectors-—should leave Iraq immediately."

And so we invaded with the "shock and awe" campaign by bombing Baghdad.

Then, slowly, the logic changed from Iraq having WMDs to Hussein just needed to be taken out.

That means that Bush lied and dragged America into a military situation that has extremely far-reaching consequences.

Anti-American sentiment has grown throughout the world. Billions of dollars are being flushed away and our soldiers are entrenched against a shadowy enemy. There is not a tangible threat in Iraq.

Sure, there are actual men who are attacking U.S. soldiers, but not a real enemy like the Allied Forces faced in World War II.

The longer the U.S. occupation, the more people start to call for the immediate withdrawal of the troops.

Unfortunately, this does not seem possible anymore. We're stuck.

If the United States were to pull everyone out at once, whatever happens would probably rival the apocalypse.

Perhaps John McCain is right—we are going to be stuck in Iraq for a long time. We went in, we broke it, so we bought it.

Regardless of personal political affiliation, people need to recognize that Iraq is a mess—but it's America's mess.

This war is going to drain resources for generations to come.

Bush is merely biding his time until he is out of office next year. Once January 2009 hits, he never has to worry about Iraq again.

His actions have made it clear that his administration never really had any idea of how to handle the invasion of Iraq.

Remember, Bush already declared that the mission is accomplished. Do we have a mission now, or are our troops merely fighting a faceless enemy for the hell of it?

What makes the situation even more disrespectful is the government’s lack of commitment to our soldiers.

Many soldiers are forced to stay for another tour when they only enlisted for a year or two.

These men and women put their lives on the line for their country, and the government cannot even honor their contract.

It has also become apparent that the government is not prepared to handle the number of troops coming home that require extensive medical attention and psychiatric treat-ment.

There have been countless stories produced over the last five years about the terrible conditions in the Veterans Administration.

Where do we go from here? Nobody knows.

No one has come forward with a strategy of how to deal with Iraq.

Throwing money and troops at the problem won’t fix anything. Neither will imme-diately pulling all troops out.

Our government created a serious problem based upon lies.

Now we’re stuck.