George Bush’s war against Iraq came and went more quickly than most people expected, but its consequences will be with us for years to come. This is true first and foremost for the tens of thousands of Iraqi families who lost loved ones, or saw their homes and livelihoods destroyed, but it is also true for millions of other Arabs who will certainly draw conclusions from the willingness -- indeed, the eagerness -- with which the US unleashed its military might against an Arab country whose leader had stepped out of line.

Apart from the cost in human suffering and Arab anger, however, the rapid US military victory left debris of a different kind in its wake: a lot of war-related merchandise which may now be hard to dispose of.