The difference that you keep forgetting about is that American soldiers aren't dying in Gaza and the West Bank. They are in Baghdad, Falluja and Samarra. 880 of them so far, in fact. Unfortunately, we will be at this for years, perhaps decades and many more will die.

Prior to the war, Iraq and Saddam were fully contained and made irrelevent. They were no threat to us. They were no threat to their neighbors. Cost effective sanctions and inspections were working. That is no longer the case. The insurgency could very possibly destabilize he entire region.

You claim that "it would be a huge success" if Iraq got to same point as Israel. Given the perpetual violence, the terrific loss of life and the constant fear in Israel, it seems you have a rather curious measue of what constitutes "success." But more importantly, have you ever wondered what the consequences of failure in Iraq might be? Remember that before the war, many intelligence analysts said Bush's dream of forcing democracy upon Iraq was a pipe dream. What if they're right?