Lt. Col. Mark Smith Credit: Courtesy of Mark Smith

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Mark Smith hates the question, but he answers it.

Smith, a colonel in the Marine Reserves, lost 14 men to bullets and bombs when his battalion, which included two companies from Wisconsin, was stationed in Iraq in 2004-'05.

In the past year, violence has spiked in Iraq, with the latest attacks killing dozens on Sunday. And as lawlessness reigns over parts of Anbar province, where many of Smith's 1,200 Marines were stationed during one of the most violent periods of the Iraq War, Smith is asked: Was it worth it?

"The easy political answer is to say, 'Of course it was worth it.' But as an American citizen, I can't say it was worth it," Smith said in a recent phone interview.

He knows his Marines fought with honor and tried their best to perform incredibly difficult tasks in an austere and dangerous land — instructing Iraqi security forces, securing supply routes, keeping a tenuous peace among Sunnis and Shiites. Smith said it was a privilege for him to serve with such courageous men.

But Smith doesn't blunt his criticism of politicians and military planners who invaded Iraq and kept American troops there for more than six years.

"If someone says we were fighting a war, I'll break out the military manuals and challenge that," said Smith, 48. "We engaged in combat operations, but under the tenets of warfare we were not fighting a war, therefore we were lacking a mission objective. Then you have to ask what was the criteria for mission success? No one could tell me then, and they can't tell me now."

The conflict, which began in March 2003 and ended nearly nine years later, cost the lives of 4,400 U.S. troops.

Of the 14 Marines who died in 2004-'05 while serving in the Chicago-based Marine Reserves 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 10 came from two Wisconsin companies, Golf and Fox: Shane O'Donnell, 24, of DeForest; Robert Warns II, 23, of Waukesha; Ryan Cantafio, 22, of Beaver Dam; Brandon Ramey, 22, of Belvidere, Ill.; Daniel Wyatt, 22, of Racine; Brian Prening, 24, of Plymouth; Brent Vroman, 21, of Oshkosh; Richard Warner, 22, of Waukesha; Travis Wichlacz, 22, of West Bend; and Chad Simon, 32, of Monona.

Smith worries his words will bring unnecessary pain to the families of his fallen who are dear to his heart. Smith stresses that his appraisal of the Iraq War should not be seen as diminishing the sacrifice and heroism of his Marines and other U.S. troops who served in Iraq.

"If you're asking me as a Marine colonel. 'Was it worth it?' It was worth it to have gotten to see that and to be honored to be around such men," Smith said.

"If you ask me as an American, as painful as it is to admit and it sears my soul — no. Because they went there to fight a war that nobody would let them fight. They went there in the hopes their kids won't have to pick up this battle. Well, they will. That is disturbing, and they gave the ultimate price for it."

Parallels to Vietnam

Dave Wyatt's family gave the ultimate sacrifice — his son Daniel. Dave Wyatt, who served in Thailand in the Navy during the Vietnam War, agreed with Smith's words.

"We went into Vietnam and guys died taking hills nobody really wanted...there was no true objective," Dave Wyatt said. "I see parallels here to Iraq. The rules of engagement were ridiculous."

On Sunday, in the latest attacks that have killed more than 1,000 so far this year, a suicide bomber at the wheel of an explosives-laden minibus plowed into a checkpoint in the city of Hillah, about 60 miles south of Baghdad, killing at least 36 people and wounding more than 100 while setting fire to 50 vehicles, some with their passengers trapped inside. Also Sunday, employees of Iraq's oil company were killed and more were wounded in an attack near Baghdad.

Marines from Smith's battalion are not surprised Iraq has once again become violent, with a death toll reaching levels not seen since the sectarian violence of 2006-'08.

They say Saddam Hussein ruled with an iron grip and kept the historical disagreements between the Sunni and Shiite factions at bay. Without the American military to keep the peace, Iraq's security forces are overwhelmed in handling the growing violence between Sunnis and Shiites.

"Sometimes there's a misconception that insurgents have inexhaustible resources. Well, they don't have inexhaustible resources," said Adam Holton, 43, of Oconomowoc, commander of Madison-based Golf Company during the 2004-'05 deployment. "I think a big dent was made in the insurgents' ability to do what they were doing (before U.S. forces left). If you look at the socioeconomic factors that haven't improved, that has probably let the insurgents recruit and attract more people."

Many sacrifices

B.J. Ganem, a platoon sergeant in Golf Company, said the violence in Iraq is part of the upheaval throughout the Middle East, ranging from the Arab Spring that toppled Egypt's government to the insurgency in Syria. It's likely, Ganem said, the insurgents needed to replenish their ranks in the years since the last U.S. forces left at the end of 2010.

"I think the powers that be took significant hits, and I figured it would take some time for them to regroup and redistribute their leadership," said Ganem, 37, of Reedsburg. "The terrorists are mostly Islamic extremists. I think the main goal now is to create an Islamic state, but the problem is there are many factions of Islam, like Christianity, and they can't all agree."

Ganem lost much in Iraq — his buddies and fellow Marines, and his leg. Ganem was severely wounded by a blast from an improvised explosive device that killed Cantafio on Thanksgiving Day in 2004. For someone who sacrificed so much, Ganem does not seek revenge or hate Iraqis.

"One of the big mistakes we made was disbanding their military," Ganem said. "If someone came here and dismantled the military while I was in the Marine Corps, I probably would have sold my services to the highest bidders. I don't have any malice toward them."

Nick Vento served with Ganem and Holton, providing security, sweeping for IEDs on major supply routes and training Iraqi national guardsmen. His unit lived underneath a bridge for months; the longest stretch between showers for him was Thanksgiving to New Year's.

Vento thought the violence enveloping parts of Iraq, including Anbar province, might have happened sooner because the departure date for the last American forces was known well in advance.

"Any time you give a deadline, then it's a red flag to (terrorists) who say, 'Well, I can hold on until the military pulls out,'" said Vento, 34, of Waukesha.

Still in touch with Marines, families

Vento, Ganem and Holton are no longer in the Marines. Smith, who is the operations officer for the Indiana State Police, remains in the reserves. He took time off last year for treatment for lung cancer and must make a decision soon whether to retire or serve a few more years in the Marines he joined at the age of 17 in 1982.

When Smith served in Iraq in 2004-'05, he sent heartfelt emails each week to the families of his Marines, messages of pain and hope that were quickly forwarded to others and gained a large following. He continues to stay in touch with some of his Marines, as well as the families of the fallen.

Smith doesn't mince words and he doesn't hold back his emotions when talking about what was lost in Iraq.

"Everybody wants to sanitize it, they don't want the pain going with it," Smith said. "If a plane goes down or a ship goes down, we talk about the number of souls lost. When you talk about people dying in combat, it's just combat deaths. Well, they got souls. They got souls of gold."