Ending combat in Iraq

President Obama’s formal observance of the end of American combat operations in Iraq was correctly low key, a marker of a milestone that comes not with the victory that the war’s instigator once envisioned, but rather with reconciliation with the reality of a pointless war.

The war in Iraq, once the grip of its former tyrant was broken, was always about how Iraqis would cope with their own fierce sectarian divide. America was never going to be able to cure the ancient enmity that haunts Sunnis and Shia. That was, and remains, for Iraqis themselves to do.

The United States has spent more than $1 trillion in expanded debt, mostly money borrowed from Asian central banks, to wage this war. We leave the combat role in it with a fearsome tally of blood, grievous losses and treasure, but yet without a firm peace.

True, Iraq held national elections this year. But six months after those elections, the sectarian blocs that oppose each other have yet to reach agreement on a consensus government. The outlook for one isn’t rosy. Under that shadow, rising attacks by insurgents and random bombings are still frightful enough to deter complacency.

Elsewhere across Iraq’s void of responsible governance, electricity, potable water, sewers, jobs, personal security and civil stability remain frustratingly elusive, fragile, broken or sparse, infuriating Iraqis forced to endure their hapless plight. Indeed, if Iraqis believe their destiny is now better after seven and a half years of war and a still uncertain future, polls and news reports from the street do not reflect it. Most Iraqis interviewed by the press regularly fear for their future, and spew non-sectarian scorn for the political class as a whole.

President Obama spoke about none of this. His remarks were aimed elsewhere — at still elusive goals and hopes for Iraq, toward grace notes and praise for the American troops and their families who have borne the brunt of the war in Iraq, and toward economic repair that remains to be done in the United States in the wake of the great recession.

While 99 percent of Americans have gone on with their lives, the military’s warriors and kin have endured the hard sacrifices: more than 4,400 dead, more than 35,000 wounded — many with life-altering brain trauma injuries and multiple amputations, and many with hidden psychic scars that, in the worst cases, have spiked military suicide rates and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The American toll, of course, pales beside those of Iraqis, who have lost at least 100,000 dead, if not a multiple of that, and suffered the plunder or demolition of their homes, towns and factories.

Iraq has become, to be sure, far more secure in the past two years. But erratic progress toward political cohesiveness and competent governance confirms a legacy of chaos that has haunted Iraq ever since President Bush, the author of the needless war, announced “mission accomplished” just weeks after the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 and the rapid toppling of Saddam Hussein’s regime.

President Obama refused in his Tuesday night remarks to cast aspersions on his predecessor for a war that was conjured on phony facts, intelligence known to be distorted or baseless, and blamed on a 9/11 terrorist fear that had absolutely no connections with Iraq. Rather, the president noted simply that he had disagreed about the war and generously said “no one could doubt President Bush’s support for our troops, or his love of country and commitment to our security.”

That was misplaced praise for President Bush. He not only recklessly rushed into a needless and poorly planned war on the basis of dubious intelligence. He also refused to allow the coffins of fallen soldiers to be seen, stinted on veterans’ health care, and refused to responsibly fund the cost of the war while lavishing more deficit-building tax cuts on the wealthy. Beyond all that, the Iraq war unleashed Iran from its traditional rival, inflamed hatred of the United States in key Muslim countries, and fostered more terrorism.

President Obama just said it was time to move on, to honor the troops and to turn attention to the unmet needs of Americans for jobs, better education and a stronger economy. He also rightly promised to keep the December 2011 pullout date for the 50,000 troops who remain in Iraq to provide assistance and training to Iraqi forces.

That commitment, like the combat troop withdrawal, is also part of the Status of Forces agreement with Iraq signed by former President Bush before he left office. It must be kept. The damage, and costs, already are far to great to be extended.