World War II was the Good War, as Studs Terkel titled his book about the great struggle, or the Big One, as Archie Bunker even more famously called it. Measured in human carnage of at least 60 million killed worldwide, we can only pray that distinction will never be equaled.
But counted in years, months and days of America's participation, it now has been surpassed in duration as the war in Iraq continues, 1,348 days long today, with no peaceful conclusion in sight. The current conflict still trails the Vietnam War (roughly 90 months, though its beginning is disputed) and the Revolutionary War, at 80 months. By spring, if it continues, it will overtake the Civil War, at four years. The Iraq War has already outlasted all other major American conflicts, including World War I and Korea.
A chronological measurement does not match one of casualties -- 360,000 Union servicemen and 258,000 Confederates lost their lives in the 48 months of the Civil War, and more than 400,000 Americans in less time in World War II, compared to at least 2,876 casualties in Iraq since March 2003. But a war's duration can very much serve as a bellwether of the public's tolerance for continuing the campaign, especially when its effectiveness proves dubious.
The comparison is especially telling when the dark days and long months of World War II are recalled. First, on Dec. 7, 1941, America was jolted by an attack. The next two and a half years it slogged through, with victory not at all guaranteed. At D-Day in June 1944, the tide changed, but still a year passed before victory was had.
It has gone the other way in Iraq. A sweeping conquest lasting only weeks did not assure stability, and the overwhelming number of American casualties -- more than 2,400 -- came after the handover of sovereignty to Iraq in June 2004.
ADVERTISEMENT
Numbers, years and comparative analysis are only measurements. Lives are irreplaceable. It matters little if a serviceman is lost at a war's beginning or end, unless that end is long overdue.
