We lost 7000 in ONE MONTH at Iwo Jima. The loss of life is secondary to the fact that for the second time in recent history, we have become mired in a never-ending, very expensive counter-insurgency because of an unwillingness to prosecute a true war by the National Command Authority. It took us less time to defeat the combined forces of Germany and Japan than it has taken us to "see some progress" in Iraq. I don't know or particularly care why George Bush invaded Iraq. I don't care if his intentions were noble or devious. What I DO care about is that he relied upon a man who was totally inept at his job, who ignored the Nine Principles of War, and who dismissed the advice of his flag officers. Rumsfeld allowed what should have been a very short, very violent campaign to become the expensive, drawn-out mess we've had to face. We LET this become an insurgent struggle because we did a lousy job of "destroying the enemy and his will to fight." I fear that we may have become the paper tiger that China once called us....we just can't bring ourselves to fight and win a war.