Why has Iraq war lasted nearly as long as WWII?

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0608140204aug14,1,5246137.story?coll=chi-opinionfront-hed

The United States has been fighting in Iraq since March 19, 2003, when President Bush launched Operation Iraqi Freedom with air strikes against Baghdad. Monday marks the 1,245th day of the Iraqi conflict. By that reckoning, Americans troops will have fought in Iraq for as long as they fought Germany in World War II. snip

Our war against Japan from Dec. 7, 1941, until Aug. 15, 1945, lasted somewhat longer--1,348 days.

So one cannot yet say that the war in Iraq has been longer than World War II.

By another reckoning, the war in Iraq is already over, having lasted only 44 days. According to President Bush, it ended on May 1, 2003, when, standing on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, he said: "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed."

During those 44 days, 140 Americans died in the successful conflict called Operation Iraqi Freedom. In the 1,200 days since, however, more than 2,400 Americans have died in Iraq.

[leftofthedial]

1. they want it to never end

[niyad]

2. we are, after all, talking the "long war" here, aren't we?

[NoAmericanTaliban]

3. It's hard work! & terra war is better than the cold war

in feeding the military industrial complex. This war literally has no end & a fluid enemy target. Anyone, any group, at any time can be labeled a terrorist.

[gratuitous]

4. If you were making millions every day off of it

Wouldn't you want it to last as long as possible? What? You're not making millions of dollars a day off of the misery in Iraq? Your sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, moms and dads are killing and dying in Iraq? Sucks to be you, then.

As soon as the money machine quits pumping millions of dollars into the pockets of the corrupt Bush administration and its cronies, the Iraq invasion and occupation will cease. Suivez de l'argent.

[KurtNYC]

5. because it is an occupation - not a war

the war lasted about one month.

[IntiRaymi]

6. Because it isn't an actual war.

"War' is just a word, with connotations, and it is being used for psychological effect. Iraq was a 3-4 week war, and a (so far) 3 year long human calamity.

[boolean]

7. It IS a war. A guerrilla war.

The 3-4 beginning weeks was a BATTLE. The war is still going on. It's just not a WWII style trench war. It's a Guerrilla war.

[IntiRaymi]

11. He is comparing WW2 with a guerrilla action

He is using a set of definitions, and I am just abiding by them

[TechBear_Seattle]

8. Ah, but look to Germany's involvement in WW II

I think that is a better comparison to our involvement in Iraq. For Germany, WW II started in March of 1939 with the invasion and occupation of Czechoslovakia.

[Blackhatjack]

9. $300 Billion in Gov Spending, 14 Perm Military Bases, Eyes on Iran

...as the next target.

There are too many incentives for those profiting off this war for there to be a withdrawal at this time. Building 14 permanent military bases in Iraq is just the beginning. The NeoCon plans are much grander than those disclosed so far.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

10. Because the politicians/generals won't admit they lost.

Better to keep on killing and having the cannon fodder make the "ultimate sacrifice" rather than admit the obvious: That they're incompetant nincompoops with colonialist ambitions that were far above their abilities to achieve.