Five years ago today, the United States went to war against Iraq, beginning with bombing raids and missile attacks that prepared the way for invasion. It became a display of military might seldom seen in the history of the world. It was shock and awe.

But five years on and with the benefit of hindsight, Americans now know that this deadly evening was the percussion section announcing the start of a tragic symphony promising no finale.

Shock has given away to resignation. Awe has turned into cynicism. What we have left is a parade of failed "if onlys" to mark the doleful anniversary of an American tragedy.

If only the civilian leadership at the top of the U.S. government had matched the military expertise first brought to bear. If only the justifications for the war had not proved so false. If only proper planning had been done for what happened next. If only some 4,000 brave American men and women in uniform hadn't died. If only tens of thousands of their comrades hadn't been wounded. If only the war in Afghanistan, the main base of al-Qaida, had not been neglected by the Iraq diversion.

If only all that had been done, perhaps we could today celebrate the good things that have been achieved -- the end of Iraq's cruel dictator, Saddam Hussein; the election of an Iraqi parliament; the projects built by American forces for the benefit of Iraq's people.

Yet even these do not balance the blood-drenched scale.

In 2003, plenty of Americans believed that Saddam Hussein was complicit in the terror attacks of 9/11, just as many believed he had weapons of mass destuction. Now, in the face of plain evidence, only the most stubborn and obtuse buy these falsehoods. The al-Qaida fighters in Iraq today were not there five years ago; the invasion attracted them like flies on a dying animal.

Iraqi democracy is also a hollow triumph, unable to make the sort of political concessions that would reach across sectarian lines and make peace a real hope. In the end, the solution to Iraq's problems rests with the Iraqis.

President Bush still insists that the surge has worked. But in what sense? While it has reduced violence, the fundamental mistake made five years ago has not changed. It was wrong then and it is wrong now, but now the cost is $12 billion a month and the lives of American citizens.

The only way this tragedy will end is when the American people insist it ends -- and, fortunately, an election is coming.