Five Years In:

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the American invasion of Iraq and this morning's news is filled with Iraq stories. David Herzehnorn addresses the dollar costs of the war. Before it began, the Bush administration claimed the cost to be a mere $50 billion, which would be reimbursed by oil revenues. Current estimates of the actual cost, however, range as high as $4 trillion, although the Pentagon, under estimates the cost at less than a trillion. Regardless of whose version you believe, the cost certainly is much higher than the neo-cons preached.

Marc Santora reports on the violence in Iraq, bookending his description with the reports of two hangings, that of Saddam Huessein and of a ten-year-old girl, who was lynched by Saddam supporters early in the invasion in order to terrorize Iraqi citizens.

Stephen Farrell reports on the day that Baghdad fell, with a telling statement: "The Shias are looting Saddam City." This was the message brought to the Shiite handlers of the press, and a sign of things to come, as Farrell points out.

Karen DeYoung begins her article on the war, in The Washington Post with " For a majority of Americans, today marks the fifth anniversary of the start of an Iraq war that was not worth fighting," and addresses the disparity in the view of the war between the average citizen and the Bush administration.

One result of the war, however, is absolutely certain: Exxon Mobil is now the wealthiest company in the world.