We were warned there would be no ticker-tape parade, no soldiers kissing nurses in Times Square, no spoils of war.

What we got was a president so somber and worn, it looked as if he needed a good rest, even though he just got back from one.

No amount of rest could have made it more palatable to announce the end of what began as shock and awe, but then turned shockingly awful. More than 4,400 American lives lost in Iraq so far, more than $700 billion spent, and what do we have to show for it?