On Jan. 30, the citizens of Iraq held their first free election in a half-century. In the election, 275 members of a national assembly were chosen, and this assembly will later determine who will be in the offices of prime minister, president, and a cabinet.

On the day of the election, 72 percent of the eligible voters turned out, greatly surpassing estimates from political analysts. Terrorist resistance was also much lower than expected.

The Bush administration and many right-wing analysts have called this election a resounding success and a blow to terrorist morale. While some left-wing analysts have criticized or dismissed the results, our president’s plan to bring democracy to Iraq has come to fruition.

Leaders of other countries, including British, German, Chinese, Israeli, and even French officials, including those who were opposed to the war, have applauded the success of the Iraqi election. Many leaders hope that this victory will have a domino effect on other Middle Eastern countries, inspiring their people to take a second look at the benefits of democracy.

However, in the aftermath of these events, we have to look back at the steps we took to achieve this goal, and the price we have paid along the way. As of February 9, the citizens of Iraq have suffered between 15 and 18 thousand deaths because of our military intervention. In addition, more than 1,030 of our troops have been killed or mortally wounded and over 7,200 have been wounded.

But we have paid for this war in more than just blood; Congress has spent in excess of $152 billion on the war in Iraq so far, and it is estimated that we will end up spending another $50 billion for each additional year United States forces remain in Iraq. This is an astronomically large amount of money. While I hold nothing against the people of Iraq, this money could have gone towards much needier causes.

As shown by CostofWar.com, $152 billion could fully fund efforts to stop world hunger for six years. This money could have been spent to hire 2.6 million public school teachers for an entire year, build 1.4 million houses for those in need of a home, provided over 7.4 million students with four-year scholarships to public universities, or provided one year’s worth of health care service to over 92 million children.

But instead, we fought a war. True, we have succeeded in our mission to spread democracy, but was it worth the immense cost we have paid? While I can’t answer that question, I do urge everyone to look at the larger picture and not get caught up in one day of success.