You don’t need to be reminded that it was a sad and bloody summer in Iraq. Nor is a reminder necessary to know that it’s been a tragedy for all parties involved: local population, military personnel and humanitarian workers.

The New York Times said Thursday that at least 64 U.S. soldiers have been killed in “direct attacks” on occupation troops since the end of official war in early May. In addition, this week the number of those killed after the end of the war surpassed the number killed during the war.

Since the beginning of the occupation in May, three of those killed were from Dubuque, Hamburg and Anamosa — Iowa, that is. Many more Iowans currently serve in Iraq as part of the 140,000-strong force.

Comparisons to Vietnam are spreading as the U.S. government weighs the desperate need for support with the political implications of asking the United Nations for support in peacekeeping.

The pressure mounts on the Bush administration. In an Aug. 24 editorial in the Des Moines Register, their editorial board, supporters of the war, stated that whatever course the Bush administration chooses to take, whether it’s pulling out or reinforcing our troops, needs to be done quickly.

The Register went so far as to say that, “The president was wrong about Iraq possessing weapons of mass destruction that posed an imminent threat to the security of the United States. He was wrong to assert there was some sort of link between Iraq and the attack of 9/11. He was wrong to think that deposing Saddam Hussein in Iraq would somehow lead to peace between Israel and the Palestinians.”

Things are not looking up. Our troops are under constant attack from a population fed up with occupation and the empty promises including electrical power and infrastructure. The 101st Airborne is, according to recent press, overstretched and exhausted, and they’re only halfway into their yearlong assignment.

Our occupation of Iraq is costing us $3.9 billion — yes, billion — per month, according to the New York Times. The Federal deficit is projected to be the highest in U.S. history, at $455 billion this year, demolishing the $290 billion record from 1992.

Humanitarian agencies, including England-based Oxfam International, are pulling out of the country as the recent violence makes it too dangerous for them to carry out their crucial work. Unfortunately many more people may die as Iraq becomes a draw for extremists looking for targets. The likely victims will be locals, Americans (including more Iowans) and others.

Come to think of it, the only folks who are satisfied in these times are those who benefit regardless of what happens. These are the people who make our weapons of mass destruction and the people winning the largely uncontested contracts to rebuild everything destroyed by Saddam’s regime and the Bush administration.

Certainly, this situation is most aptly described as sad.

For the American people, it’s sad because we’ve been betrayed. As reported by the New York Times and the Washington Post, it is clear that we were misled by President Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell, and National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice on several occasions to justify the immediate need for an invasion and occupation of Iraq. And now, men and women who should be our neighborhood accountants, businesspeople and real estate agents are tempting targets for people driven to fanaticism by desperation and the bad seeds sowing hate among them.

It’s sad for Iraqis who have had their country’s despotic ruler happily gone, only making space for the world’s least-favorite (whether justified or not) government to impose its will. Electricity, water, medical supplies and food remain major missing ingredients as the Bush “insta-democracy” cake doesn’t seem to be rising.

And for the world community, the implications are grave as it seems that all must toe the line or perish at the hands of the American empire. Threats are being hurled at Iran and North Korea, and rather than learning from the international effort to oust Charles Taylor’s regime last month in Liberia, we steam ahead.

Recognizing the tragedy of Iraq is perhaps the first step to change. We cannot afford to stand by as our fellow Iowans and Americans are sent to perpetuate the Iraq disaster. An international security presence would be viewed very differently and should take over to facilitate the rapid development of Iraq’s infrastructure, by and for the Iraqi people — and not for international corporate interests — before it’s too late.