Sorry...
I remember typing the post, but it must not have gone in for some reason.
It would be quite simple to destroy terrorist enclaves by simply flattening the towns where they were from a comfortable distance. This was pretty much how things were done in most previous wars.
Going into the town on the ground, down the streets and house to house, is a lot more dangerous, and costs U.S. lives. But it saves a lot of Iraqi civilian lives.
The decision was made early on to do it the latter way. If we had chosen the "bomb from the air" approach, our casualties would be nil, and the Iraqi civilian deaths would be much higher.
Okay?