(Editor’s Note: As the end of 2013 approaches, the Washington Examiner is shining a spotlight on its best columns of the year. Today, it’s senior writer Philip Klein who wrote about the Iraq War that made the passage of President Obama’s health care law possible. This column first ran on March 20 and can be found in its original form here.)

This week brought two milestones: It has been 10 years since the United States invaded Iraq, and three years since President Obama’s health care legislation became law. It’s fitting that the two events coincided, because it was the Iraq War that made the passage of Obamacare possible.