On March 20, 2003, President Bush announced to the world that the United States of America would start a military campaign against Iraq. Claiming that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, which nobody ever found, Bush led the U.S. through a war that ended approximately one month and a half later on May 2. To date, the cause of the war is a hot debate, but the effects of the war are still going on as well. The war had both positive and negative effects, but most of the time the negative effects outshine the positive.

The end of the war saw the fall of the dictator Saddam Hussein, and soon after his capture. America perceived Hussein to be an evil man because of the tortures and mass murders that happened in his name. Even Iraqis were glad to see him gone. In a famous clip on the news, his statue in Baghdad can be seen being toppled by joyous Iraqi citizens. Husseins fall and capture marked not only the end of his regime, but a start for a new Iraq; an Iraq with a democratic future.

But what is the price of this new free Iraq? In terms of money, the U.S. spent massive amounts on the war. As of April 17, the estimated amount spent by the U.S. was $26 billion. So obviously the war cost America a not-so-small amount of money. In addition to the financial price, it also cost America allies. The war severed international relations with countries which include France and Germany. This was due to the fact that countries such as those believed the U.S. could have handled the situation in a more diplomatic way.

Protests were another effect of this war, which had already cost America so much. At the beginning of the war, protests were held in the U.S. and in other countries against the war. Groups that advocated peace or with views similar to those of France and Germany rallied against President Bush and his "invasion". But these protests pale in comparison to those which still go on today; protests by terrorist organizations. These offensives carried out by terrorists cost lives. Over 500 Americans have been killed since the end of the war, and even more Iraqis. The acts of murder are in defiance of U.S. occupation in Iraq. Terrorists claim that the acts will not end until the U.S. leaves, and many more protesters are joining in trying to get the Americans out of there.

The effects of the war are still seen today in the news; the construction of a new

democracy, the massive inflation of the costs, the broken down foreign relations, the

protesters, and the violent acts of defiance against U.S. occupation in Iraq.