One year after

THE GRIM NUMBERS tell the outline of the story: 564 U.S. soldiers killed. Another 3,190 injured, many of them mangled by bombs or sniper fire and damaged for life. At least 8,581 Iraqi civilians, many of them children, dead, and many more badly injured.

Zero weapons of mass destruction found and precious little evidence Saddam Hussein was close to having the capacity to make them. Zero evidence the United States has even come close to disrupting al-Qaeda or ending international terrorism (in fact, the horror in Spain is evidence to the contrary).

Osama bin Laden is still at large. Sizable sections of Iraq still lack safe, stable supplies of water and electricity. Iraqi hospitals are still in shambles. Unemployment is rampant, with no end in sight.

U.S. corporations, on the other hand, are doing just fine. Companies like Halliburton are raking in hundreds of millions, with much more still to come.

A year after the invasion of Iraq, much of what President George W. Bush's opponents warned about has come to pass. It's abundantly clear the White House lied repeatedly about the grounds for the war, relied on either shoddy or cooked intelligence data, and had no cogent plan for bringing a stable peace to the region.

As thousands of Bay Area residents prepare for protests marking the first anniversary of the invasion, they can be confident that the past 12 months have proved them right. The invasion was a terrible idea, and the results have been worse. Unfortunately, a lot of Democrats, including presumptive presidential nominee John Kerry, initially supported the war – and if Howard Dean's short-lived but lively antiwar primary campaign hadn't demonstrated the resonance this issue has in the electorate, Kerry might still be too cautious about challenging Bush on it. But at this point the only reasonable debate ought to be about the best and quickest way to get out.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich argues that an occupation force controlled by the United States will never have the credibility to foster democracy in that country; the United States, he suggests, should immediately turn control over to the United Nations, and U.S. troops should be removed as quickly as possible. World opinion seems to be moving in that direction too. Kerry should make that his position and a centerpiece of the fall campaign.