Iraq

In 2007, NPR told the story of two sisters who had lost their parents. The older sister wore conservative clothes and recited poetry. The younger sister, just 13 at the time, appeared on the verge of becoming a prostitute. Now, 10 years after the U.S. invaded Iraq, we hear what happened to them.

Um Abbas has spent decades performing the Muslim ritual of washing the bodies of the dead to prepare them for burial. The war years in Iraq were terrible, she says, but in some ways, confronting death every day helped her cope with the country's trauma.

Dunya Mikhail fled her homeland in the wake of the first Gulf War, after her writing was labeled subversive by Saddam Hussein's government. She has never physically returned to Iraq, but she remembers it in her poetry.

Ali Hamdani worked for NPR in Iraq and narrowly survived a 2008 car bomb attack. He's among a relatively small number of Iraqis who have been allowed to resettle in the U.S., and he considers himself lucky.

Ten years ago Tuesday, the aerial bombardment of Iraq began. It was the opening volley of a U.S.-led invasion that would topple the regime of Saddam Hussein. One of the questions is: Can Iraq's fragile democracy hold, as the region splits along sectarian lines?

As the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq nears, host Rachel Martin talks with former NPR correspondent Anne Garrels, who reported from Baghdad for much of the war.

The war has cost thousands of lives and trillions of dollars, and there are many who will live with its legacy forever. Now, as it tries to stabilize without U.S. combat troops, the conflict in neighboring Syria could threaten its security.

Researchers say the war will cost the U.S. $2.2 trillion, a figure that far exceeds the original government estimate of $50 to $60 billion. If you factor in borrowing costs, the U.S. will end up paying nearly $4 trillion for the invasion.

The father of Guffran, then a 9-year-old Iraqi girl, was gunned down in a Baghdad street in 2006 at the height of the war. She continues writing letters to him, just as she did when he was alive. Now, she lives in one room with her mother and brother. She wants to study but faces difficult odds.

Iraqi and U.S. officials interviewed for the report by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction said the $60 billion the U.S. spent on reconstruction efforts in Iraq "should have accomplished more." The findings could portend what lies ahead for the U.S. in Afghanistan where it is also engaged in reconstruction.