So, are we establishing that we cannot engage in any battle where non-combatants might get injured? That would have changed a lot of wars over the years.

We are taking American casualties precisely because we are trying to avoid Iraqi civilian casualties. Remember the Bosnian air war? How many people did we lose?

Because we didn't flatten Fallujah last spring, which American military forces would have done in any other war, the place is an insurgent hotbed now, turning out bombs and attackers. Because we didn't take out that bloody mosque in Najaf, the Sadr thugs dropped their guns and strolled off to different cities and are arming up again even as I type this. The same people who were shooting at us in that cemetery are shooting at us now in Sadr City.

But by God, we didn't kill anyone unnecessarily. Except Americans.

So, to put it bluntly, people are invited to either shut the hell up about the American casualties, or shut the hell up about the damage done when we defend ourselves.

The insurgents over there are playing the Left over here like a fiddle. "Iraqi witnesses." "Iraqi hospital personnel." And their figures are accepted like the word of God. The American military is, of course, lying about everything.