Today marks the fifth anniversary of the start of the Iraq War. President Bush defended the decision to go to Iraq, and the ongoing occupation today, saying that his resolve is just as strong as it was in 2003. Bush conceded that the war has brought a high cost in terms of lives and money, but insists that critics can no longer "credibly argue that we're losing in Iraq." But the number may tell a different story: the surge has increased troop levels past 160,000 service persons serving in Iraq, as daily violence continues. An unknown number of Iraqis have lost their lives – up to 1.2 million men, women and children. Unemployment plagues between 25 to 50 percent of the workforce, and those Iraqis that haven't lost their lives or fled as refugees are forced to survive with little or no clean water and improper sanitation coupled with deficient health care – likely a result of poorly managed private contracts. The International Committee of the Red Cross says that the humanitarian crisis in Iraq is "the most critical in the world."

Meanwhile, back in the United States, people are holding vigils for the nearly 4,000 US troops killed in the war, as well as demonstrations and direct actions in attempt to bring a halt to the war and to bring the troops back home. Our Brian Edwards Tiekert is in downtown San Francisco, where there are scattered direct actions shutting down various government and corporate offices.