The press made a huge deal about the fact that the Iraq War has lasted longer than United States involvement in World War II.
The United States fought the Axis Powers for 1,347 days according to their timeline and the day that they made mention of it was when the Iraq War entered it's 1,348th day.
There's a few things that they left out of their figures.
The war against the Iraqi army lasted 28 days when the coalition partners declared the war against Saddam Hussein's government finished.
The ongoing sectarian violence and insurgency is not being waged by Saddam's government as it no longer exists. The resistance is being waged by people who want the U.S. out of Iraq, and want members of their specific religion in charge of Iraq. Some of them may have been part of Saddam's government, but they aren't exactly trying to put him back in charge, are they?
The media reports forgot to mention that lengthy occupations followed the end of World War II. They ignored the entire Cold War in Europe and the occupation of Japan which lasted longer than the actual fighting did.
For the record:
The war against Germany ended on May 2, 1945.
West Germany was declared fully sovereign on May 5, 1955.
East Germany was declared sovereign in 1955 as well, though the Soviet Union had primacy there through force of arms until 1989.
Both joined the United Nations in 1973.
The war against Japan ended on September 2, 1945.
Japan was declared fully sovereign in 1952; it joined the United Nations in 1956.
The press should report the rest of the story and not just the parts that they like.
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