Five years. Five fucking years.

Wednesday will mark the fifth anniversary of the American invasion of Iraq, five years of occupation and continued conflict. I'll be part of a brief protest, and I suggest anyone who can take part locally also does. Also, today's New York Times includes an excellent article by John F. Burns. Take the time to read it.

But I'd like to mention something that really troubles me. Most antiwar efforts mention the nearly 4,000 American troops killed in combat and over 23,000 wounded; in fact, both protests in my area emphasize the loss of American troops. But do American lives matter more than others? Consider the 82,199 Iraqi civilians who have died as a direct result of the American invasion. Consider the 2,000,000 internally displaced Iraqis and the 2,200,000 Iraqi refugees who've fled to surrounding countries. Consider the intensified violence between the PKK in Kurdistan and the Turkish military.

And what's more, consider the years between the first Gulf War and the second, when international embargoes and the hopelessly corrupt UN Oil for Food program combined with Saddam Hussein's rule to create horrifyingly high infant mortality rates and widespread malnutrition in Iraq. Those years were overseen by the Clinton administration and publicly justified by Madeleine Albright, who later apologized.

We cannot only blame Republicans for the catastrophe, and we cannot appease our consciences by blaming Democrats as well. The moral responsibility extends to all of us.